


Meet the Ninja!

by Kage_Musha



Category: Naruto, Team Fortress 2
Genre: Angst, BLU Spy's a dick, Fluff, Kurama has a weird relationship with Naruto, M/M, New class for RED and BLU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-19
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-03-18 15:34:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3574743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kage_Musha/pseuds/Kage_Musha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the discovery of an entire new continent, RED decides to send one of it's mercenaries to explore the new terrain. Just the Engineer's luck they chose him, huh? Of course, the discovery of an entire civilization of about twenty or so countries, five or so 'superpowers', and a military based off of assassins from an age ago was NOT expected, but he'll deal with it like he always manages to. First things first: who the hell beat up this little kid?!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. When Worlds Collide

_(October 10th, Seven Years after Kyuubi Attack on Konoha)_

...

..

.

It was his birthday today.

...not that anyone else cared.

...

He was seven years old today.

...not that anyone was happy for him.

...

He has been living by himself for almost three years now.

...not that anyone felt sorry for the poor boy.

Scratch that, the poor 'demon', as they so lovingly called him.

...

..

.

Naruto Uzumaki, age seven, had been living a miserable existence for the past seven years; basically, his entire life. On the day of his birth, seven years ago, a monster, known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune, had rampaged throughout the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Konoha, which happens to be the birthplace and home of young Naruto. The Kyuubi was always spoken of in fear; a humongous, nine-tailed orange fox, with so much power, a flick of it's paws could bring down a mountain. The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, however, had put up an amazing defense against said monster, saving most of the village from the beast before killing it himself; though this was not without a price.

The Hokage had died in the battle, along with many shinobi and civilians, leaving many to mourn for their losses. In honor of their sacrifice, the village would put on a festival on the anniversary of the defeat of the Kyuubi. There was food, games, a parade, all the works, really...

...at least, that's what he had heard.

Naruto, in the few years he had been alive and aware, had not once seen this festival in person. This was even more surprising with the fact that it was his birthday, but no one else would allow him to step within a fifty-yard radius of the festival.

You see, for as long as he could remember (which was not very long a time), almost the entire village of Konoha despised the poor boy. There was never an explanation for their actions. It sometimes seemed as though he was hated simply for living, although he expected some people to scorn him for being alive.

He had heard stories, you see, about that day. All the demonic energy that was released with the death of the Kyuubi had, unfortunately, poisoned all newborn children in the hospital, except for him.

So, when he heard cries of  _"Demon!"_ aimed towards him, it was likely they believed he was a demon himself, able to survive the taint of the Kyuubi.

"There's the demon now! Let's get him!"

Speaking of which...

...

..

.

He had been walking home from the Training Grounds.

After he joined the Ninja Academy a year ago, he had quickly become famously known as the 'dead-last' of his class. Simply put, he  _sucked_ in almost every single aspect of shinobi skills. He could never focus enough to listen during History, he was terrible in Math, his handwriting was barely legible, his aim with kunai and shuriken was shoddy at best, and he could  _never_ pull off a successful  **Clone Jutsu**. His only saving grace was his  _insane_ stamina; it kept him in the front of the pack during physical exercises and Taijutsu spars.

So, in an effort to become better, Naruto would head out to Training Ground 9 after school and practice his  **Clone Jutsu**. Of course, practicing the wrong way to do something is never a good idea, but Naruto wasn't a very logical person to begin with. So, he'd spend hours trying to make a successful clone, only for it to be nothing but smoke, or to look like it was near death. And, no matter what, Naruto could never figure out why. After several hours of this, he would give up and go home, exhausted from his overuse of chakra.

On his way home, night fell quickly, causing the streets to fade out of sight and leaving him barely able to tell where he was going. So, in a rare moment where Lady Luck didn't watch over him, Naruto ended up right at the edge of the parade.

Which led to his current predicament: running away from the angry villagers.

...

...

The chase had gone on for several hours, most of which was running. In a few rare instances, he was able to lose the mob long enough to hide and rest for a few minutes, after which he'd attempt to make his way home before being found again; this cycle would continue several times before Naruto ended up over by the southern gate into the village.

 _'I'm not gonna be able to make it home tonight with this many people searching... maybe the forest will serve as a better home for the night...'_ With that thought being his only available option, Naruto quickly darted outside the village walls before anybody saw him. Or, at least, he  _tried_ not to be seen...

"The demon is running through the gate! After him!"

Kami... curse his luck tonight...

He was able to put a good distance between them and him, and was faster than them regardless. If he was lucky, maybe there was a cave or a-

"AHHH!" Searing pain tore through his right shoulder, as something had pierced it all the way through. He fell to the ground in a blind panic, as pain overcame his desperation. Looking down, he saw the tip of a kunai point torn through his shoulder, thrown from...

"Well, well, well... looks like I caught a fox in a trap."

Mizuki.

He was one of the Chuunin instructors at the Academy, and he really had it out for the blonde. Every mistake he made would be ridiculed on in front of the entire class, a less-than-perfect ended up as a zero on his tests (which, oddly, had questions that no other students might have gotten), and any questions he had over the day's lesson or the taijutsu instructions were promptly ignored or shot down completely.

Seriously, this guy had problems.

Mizuki, grinning evilly the entire time, raised two fingers to his lips before giving off a loud, high-pitched whistle, clearly able to be heard from long distances. The mob quickly gathered.

"Well now, looks like the demon thought he could ruin the festival, did he?"

"He deserves punishment!"

"But what should we do?"

"Burn him alive!"

"Tie him to a tree upside-down!"

"Cut off his fingers and toes!"

"I have an idea..." The mob turned to see a stranger wearing all-black robes and a hood, preventing anybody from seeing his features, standing right at the back of his crowd.

"I've heard the little demon's dream... the dream of being the Hokage someday."

"NEVER!"

"How  _dare_ he do something like that!"

"This is unacceptable!"

"You obviously don't want this happening. So, how should we prevent this dream from ever becoming a reality?" Unsure murmurs projected from the crowd, no one having any good enough ideas. The stranger smiled evilly underneath his hood.

"We seal away his chakra...  _forever_." The mob gasped in shock, never having heard of something like this before.

"How do you plan on doing that?! Sealing ink can always be removed by a seal master!" Mizuki questioned.

"Ink  _can_ be removed... but I'm not using ink." The stranger pulled out a metal rod with a pointed end from somewhere within his robes. After quickly clearing a small patch of earth, he ran through some handsigns before spitting out a small ball of fire that set only the area in front of him ablaze. Once he stuck the point into the flames and waited, Mizuki finally understood what the stranger was planning.

And how he  _wished_ he could have thought of this himself.

Mizuki turned to the Naruto, who was trying to crawl away using his left arm, and quickly stabbed the boy's hand into the ground with another kunai. While the boy screamed in agony, he quickly ripped off the back of Naruto's shirt, leaving a canvas for the stranger to do his work.

"I hope you scream." Mizuki whispered harshly. Then, he paused as if something occurred to him, and another sick smile spread on his face. "Maybe... maybe I'll make sure you can't do handseals anymore, just in case this doesn't work." Quick as a flash, a kunai sliced it's way through his wrist, completely severing his hand off. Naruto couldn't have screamed any louder, or his vocal chords might've exploded in his throat.

"Just making a contingency plan, in case your method doesn't work, stranger." The figure nodded, still heating up the rod in the fire.

Once the tip was glowing white-hot, it was pulled from the fire before he made his way over to Naruto.

"And now..." the stranger began. "The end of the Kyuubi's dream."

And he began to draw on Naruto's back(1).

...

...

Afterwards, when the pain ceased and the cheering stopped, the rest of the mob having given out their own 'justice', Naruto was left where he was. The kunai had been removed, having been used as other instruments of torture, and so, Naruto slowly picked himself off the ground and trudged forward. He didn't care about where he was going, he just needed to find some sort of shelter. He whimpered in pain every time he took a step, his left leg dragging along behind him as he awkwardly hopped on his right to keep moving. Suddenly, an orange glow flashed into life in between the trees, lighting a path for him in the darkness.

Naruto didn't care who it was; he needed help, and this fire was the best chance he had.

...

..

.

Dell sighed as he kept striking the flint. This was why he built things; he'd  _never_ be able to survive like this without them. He cracked open his pack of daily rations, and shuddered as he pulled out his dinner... if it could even be called food. All it did was give him nutrition, even if the method of 'how' was absolutely terrible. He quickly choked it down, washing his mouth out with his ration of water (which, thankfully, was real water). Once he finished gagging, he sighed and pulled out a small notebook and a pencil.

...

Okay, hang on... let's start with  _why_ Dell was out here in the first place.

He had been fighting the in Gravel War for the past six years or so as the RED Engineer, with the threat of dying having no hold on him, his teammates, nor the BLU team. However, in the past six months, the outside world had been making  _huge_ technological achievements; most specifically, Space Exploration. One day, it occured to somebody in NASA to take pictures of the earth from space, and when Redmond, the owner of RED, saw the photos, he was ready to hand over his half of the land to his brother, owner of BLU, in a heartbeat.

An  _entire landmass_ that had never been discovered before was seen smack-dab in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Obviously, Redmond immediately wanted to claim it as his own. The Administrator, however, implored him to think ahead, and have someone scout the land out first. Which somehow led to Redmond choosing Engineer as his 20th Century  _conquistador_. After being given nothing but a small sailboat, several months' worth of rations, a set of coordinates, and anything else he owned that he thought would help, Dell had been dropped off at a port in Hawaii and he had soon set sail. Now that he had the time to rest, though, he had a job to do.

As he began writing, he talked aloud to himself. Some time ago, he found out it somehow made it a little easier for him to voice his thoughts while putting them on paper.

"'I first sailed 'long, what I reckon was, a desert that stretched fer miles. I didn' see any signs a' people, though, so I kept 'long the coast. As I kept truckin', the desert soon turned t'a marshland. I would'a stopped there, but the water was deep 'nough that I couldn' walk in it safely, but shallow 'nough that the boat would be done fer iffin' I tried ta sail through; so, I went past it. Finally, I saw this forest land that was the most...'" He paused for a moment, considering. "'Hospitable'? Yeah... that'll work..." He quickly jotted it down before continuing.

"Still, I hadn' seen any people, and I kept sailin' 'long 'til the land curved 'round and headed back out the way I came in. So, I had the option of either sailin' back out and, possibly, findin' no better place to land (which would'a wasted 'bout a week's worth a' rations), or stop here and head in ta the forest. I chose the latter, and I been explorin' for 'bout three days.'" Dell sighed. He stopped writing.

"I jus' don' get it! These weapons I'mma findin' all over these woods look new!... or at least a coupl'a years old..." He looked over to his little collection to see several knife-looking weapons, and some kind of four-pointed star that was sharp and the same metal as the knives. "If there were folks 'round here, I'm just not findin' any of 'em..."

And then, as if Dell's words magically summoned him, a blonde boy staggered into the clearing. Dell dropped his notebook out of shock, and, acting on instinct alone, quickly pulled out his shotgun before aiming at the boy. He instantly regretted it, seeing the boy flinch in fear. And that's when Dell finally noticed the state of the boy: he was covered in scratches, burns, bruises, and stab marks. He looked like he had been used as one of Heavy's punching bags before being given to Medic and Pyro to play with.

Dell instantly lowered the gun and put it on the ground. It seemed to calm the blonde somewhat, and Dell raised his hands to show he was unarmed.

"Hey..." he said softly. "I'm not gonna hurt you; you just surprised me s'all..." The boy just stared at him blankly.

"S-sa... _(H-help...)_ " he whispered, before faceplanting into the ground. Dell, shocked at the turn of events stared at him for a moment. When he did, he saw two of the most cruel and inhumane things ever done to another person. On the boy's back was a pattern consisting of scribbles and lines,  _branded into the boy's skin_. He had seen his Pop brand the family cattle, but it was always a small mark on their rump. This...  _no one_ would do this to anything...

Of course, it wasn't as bad as the fact that someone also cut the boy's hand clean off.

Dell finally snapped into action, rushing into his truck before pulling out one of his machines and a medical kit. He ran to the body on the ground and, after placing the machine down (which began to crank and whir as it set itself up), he opened the kit and started treating as many of the injuries as he could with what little first-aid experience he had.

"Come on, kid... don't die on me! Don't die!"

...

..

.

_Naruto was floating._

_There was nothing but darkness around him._

"Do... on me! Don't..."

_Naruto's brow furrowed._

_Who was talking? It wasn't a language he knew..._

_Oh yes, that man. The man with the weird language, and the stick the man pointed at him._

_Naruto wasn't sure what the man was going to do with the stick, but whatever..._

_He was content to just stay here._

_No worries_

_..._

_No cares_

_..._

_No pain_

_..._

_Nothing_

_..._

_Nothing in the darkness._

...

..

.

"Shit..." Dell breathed. The boy seemed to be breathing steadily, and the wounds were slowly starting to heal.

But this wouldn't be enough.

The Dispenser was designed to heal minor wounds, enough until his teammates could get to Medic. However, there were injuries that were too big for his machine to fix, especially the stump where the boy's hand used to be.

He needed to get the boy back to...  _somewhere_!

...Where did he come from anyways? There had to be people with him; no animal could do damage like this, and the brand was too concentrated and precise for the boy to have done it accidentally or to himself.

Dell swallowed heavily, needing people to get here, and to get here  _now_.

A thought struck him, and he ran back to his tent, searching for the good-luck gift Pyro gave him. Finding it after a few minutes, Dell pointed in the air...

...and fired the flare gun.

...

..

.

The first thing he saw was the mask.

It was a little terrifying, honestly, to see a white mask and nothing else, just staring at him.

Then, people suddenly appeared into existence, enclosing him in a circle.

He had yelled in fright, admittedly, due to his many years of experience with the BLU Spy. One more suddenly appeared in front of him, wearing a mask that looked slightly like a dog, separating him from the boy. The (apparent) leader quickly held a knife in front of Dell's face, prompting the engineer to hold his hands up as a sign of surrender. As he did, he couldn't help but stare in shock at the gravity-defying silver hair the man possessed.

"Anata dare?! Naze anata wa Naruto ni shite iru?! _(Who are you?! What did you do to Naruto?!)_ " Dell stared at the man (at least, he  _assumed_ it was a man). stunned that the man was speaking perfect Japanese, as far as he could tell.

"I don't speak Japanese... I'm sorry." The masked man tilted his head, like he was confused.

"Anata wa nani o itte iru no? Watashi wa anata o rikai shite inai... _(What did you just say? I can't understand you...)_ "

"Watashitachiha, Hokage-sama ni Inu-san o tsureteiku hitsuyō ga arimasu. Kono hito wa doko ni demo kono atari karade wa nai yōdesu... _(We should take this guy to Hokage-sama, Inu-san. This guy doesn't look like he's from around here...)_ " one of the masked people in the circle said to the leader.

"Shinken ni, kono otoko wa kite iru fuku o mitekudasai! _(Seriously, look at the clothes he's wearing!)_ "

"Watashi wa, jibun jishin de sore o kangaedashi dōmo arigatōgozaimashita, baka! _(I figured that out on my own, thank you very much, idiot!)_ " he barked back. He snapped his fingers, and two of the masks quickly grabbed Dell's arms. Dell struggled to get free, and managed to get his arm free before pointing to the boy.

"KARE O TASUKERU! _(HELP HIM!)_ " Dell yelled. Everyone froze, as they heard the man, who was speaking a completely foreign language before, say something they understood completely. The leader silently stared at Dell, who swallowed nervously. Did he say it wrong?

"Kare... o... tasukeru?" he said, more like a question this time. The leader crouched down and studied the boy. There were fresh bandages covering wounds, and that strange metal box that had chakra flowing into Naruto was, slowly, healing the scratches and burns. He stood back up and turned to the stranger in the yellow helmet, before nodding his head and giving a thumbs-up. The man sighed, glad that they seemed to be on the boy's side.

"Watashi... tasukeru... kare. Hai? _(I... help... him. Yes?)_ " Inu nodded, and the man sighed in relief again, before staring intently at him. "Shōsaina tasuke! _(More help!)_ " Inu nodded again, and turned to his subordinates.

"Darekaga sugu ni byōin ni kare o eru! _(Someone get him to the hospital immediately!)_ " One who was wearing a mask that resembled a hawk, slightly, came forward, grabbing the boy's arm, and quickly disappeared with the boy in tow. Dell stared at the spot where the blonde used to be, gaping like a large-mouth bass.

Inu saw this, and wondered.  _'How can he be shocked at the use of chakra? Maybe he's just never seen a ninja before...'_  He walked up to the man in the yellow hat, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Kuru. _(Come.)_ " Dell nodded, glad he understood that part, and the world suddenly seemed to shift. One moment, he was sitting in the middle of a forest, the next, he was suddenly sitting in an office with panoramic windows and an old man sitting at a desk. The old man seemed surprised at his sudden arrival, and stood up to greet him.

Of course, that was when the nausea and dizziness kicked in. Dell held his stomach in pain as he wobbled on his feet slightly. The old man looked to the masked-man, completely confused.

"Kare wa mae ni  **Shunshin**  o heta koto ga nai no ka? _(He's never gone through a **Shunshin** before?)_" The mask quickly shook his head 'no'.

"Hokage-sama, watashi wa kono otoko ga imademo mae ni  _chakra_  o mite iru to wa omowanai...  _(Hokage-sama, I don't think this man has ever even seen_ chakra  _before...)_ " came the reply.

...

..

.

Sarutobi sighed.

So...  _that_ had finally started.

"ANBU! Leave the room immediately! No one is allowed to listen in to this conversation!" he ordered, his 'God of Shinobi' side showing for an instant.

"Sir..." Inu started. "We don't speak the same language as him. What conversation would you have with the language barrier?" Sarutobi smirked.

"I... have my ways... now go." Inu nodded, before vanishing in a  **Shunshin**. Sounds in the ceiling alerted him that the rest of the ANBU Guard had gone as well. He quickly put up the silencing seals and the barrier seal that would keep everyone else out.

Sarutobi finally looked back at his guest who had managed to reorient himself before the puking started. He wore an... interesting outfit, with the yellow helmet and blue shirt, not to mention the overalls and tool-belt. He went over to his drawer, and released the false bottom before pulling out two sheets of paper. He pulled out a kunai, slowly, as to not startle the man, and, after making sure the stranger was watching, pricked his finger with the tip until he drew blood. He then smeared some across the first paper, before cleaning the kunai of his blood and handing both kunai and the second paper to the man. He motioned for the stranger to do the same thing on the other sheet and, after some confusion, the man did so.

Satisfied, Sarutobi went back to his desk and pulled out two pens, one of which he handed to his guest. Sarutobi started writing on his sheet, then looked up and mimed the man looking down at his own paper. When he did, the stranger gaped at the paper like he had just seen a miracle.

(So, for this little portion, Sarutobi's writing will be  _italicized_ , and Dell's will be  **bolded** , so that there's no confusion as to who's talking)

 _"Hello. My name is Sarutobi. Might I ask who you are?"_ The stranger looked up at Sarutobi in disbelief.

"Sarutobi." he said, placing a hand on his chest, trying to show that, yes, it was his name and his writing. He motioned for the stranger to do the same on his paper.

"Uhhh...  **Well, sir, my name is... well, my TITLE is Engineer. I'm not allowed to tell you my name, I'm afraid..."** Sarutobi's brow raised in amusement. The stranger (Engineer, as he said) was, once again, gaping at the fact that Sarutobi's previous message disappeared once he finished writing.

 _"It's another trick the paper does. Besides allowing us to communicate (even if it's not very efficient), it saves us the trouble of running out of space on the paper. You and I have a_ lot  _to talk about, Engineer-san."_ Engineer looked extremely confused.

**"How is this even possible?! The translation; the writing; the _teleporting_  thing that made me want to throw up, for crying out loud!"**

_"Let me start off with a question for you: how did you discover this place?"_

**"Well, Sarutobi, the country I came from had recently decided to take photos of the earth from space; for what purpose, you're guess is as good as mine. Anyways, the photos revealed this landmass just sitting out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, so I was sent here to explore the place. Of course, a storm blew me off course by about twenty miles south, but I made it here..."**

_"Space?! Your civilization has already discovered space travel?!"_

**"Yeah. And air travel. ...what's your country's greatest technological achievement so far?"**

_"Not my country. I am a leader of a village, not the country. We have a Daimyo for that, which, in your language, would be the equivalent of a king. However, in our land, named The Elemental Nations, Frost Country, up in the north, has recently revealed they had made a vehicle called a train. Of course, it is a tiny thing that can barely move five people on it's own power, but they have started making improvements."_

**"Well, we've made trains as well, along with carts that run without horses, vehicles that can fly people across long distances, and boats that don't require oars or sails to move. Also, the rocket, which is what brings people to space."**

_"Amazing... after all these years separated from the rest of the world, and we have been left far behind..."_

**"You mean, you _knew_ about my people?!"**

_"Of course. The Kages and Daimyos of every village and country, respectively, have had the knowledge passed down through our predecessors ever since we first made civilization."_

**"What is a Kage?"**

_"Well... do you know what a ninja is?"_ **  
**

**"...you're kidding, right?"**

_"What? What do you_ think  _a ninja is?"_

**"Like... dressed in black. Not showing their faces by wearing a hood. Using little throwing stars and swords to kill people from the shadows. Things like that."**

_"You are, actually, completely correct. But we are_ more _than that. The place we are in right now is called a Hidden Village, specifically, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Take a look if you want."_ He waved his hand to the window invitingly.

Dell got up from his chair hesitantly, and walked over to the panoramic window surrounding the office. His jaw slowly dropped to match his shocked state of mind.

The village, in a word, was beautiful. The streets were filled with people, happily chatting to each other as they went about their business of the day. There were many stores and houses through out the village, with a modern Japanese style to it (for whatever reason). The village was lines with tall, thick walls of white stone, adding a level of security and safety to the village. The kicker, though, was the giant mountain the village was backed to, which had four faces carved into it, almost resembling Mt. Rushmore in Dell's eyes.

"Sweet Jesus..." Dell breathed. Hiruzen chuckled to himself, guessing (correctly) that Engineer was astounded by what he saw.

**"I've been around a lot, and I have never seen such a sight..."**

_"I understand. I had the same reaction when I first saw the village from the window here."_ Both men shared a laugh with each other before returning to the conversation.  _"In any case, what makes us more than the ninjas_ you  _described, is that we have an energy within our bodies; an energy that allows us to shoot fire, walk on water, and heal injuries. We call it chakra, and it is the lifeforce of every human being in the Nations."_

**"Lifeforce? You mean-"**

_"If someone was to lose all their chakra, they'd die? Yes."_

**"Damn... But, how come the people where I come from don't have this... 'chakra'?"**

_"Well,... first off, have you studied genetics?"_

**"Yeah. The traits that humans acquire from their ancestors."** _  
_

_"Yes, well the humans in the Nations have the gene that gives us usage of chakra. Honestly,_ all  _humans have chakra in their bodies. I believe that you simply can't access it, and forgot it over time."_

**"You mean that you were once connected to the rest of the world?"**

_"We were, and it was an awful time. Our lands haven't always been divided into countries; before, we were grouped into our clans, which would be all the members of your family. The clans, however, were always at war with each other, causing uncountable deaths of clan members, and innocents. Before the end of the Clan wars, non-chakra users began to fear us, and planned to invade and kill us all. The strongest chakra user in our recorded history, the Sage of Six Paths, decided that we would separate ourselves from the non-chakra users and, by using the power of the Tailed Beasts, split our landmass off of the mainland and sent it deep into the middle of the ocean. He was then able to use chakra and completely hide the landmass from outside view; any ships that made it this far would, somehow, always end up turning backwards by some other force. Thinking that we had vanished completely, they gave up on finding us; however, over time, you had forgotten about us arrival here, however, means that the barrier has finally vanished, which brings you here today."_

**"That's a lot to take in at once..."**

_"I understand. Even then, I only gave you a brief history of how we came to be."_

**"Still, how did every Kage know about this?"**

_"Well, the Sage kept the knowledge alive in the minds of every clan leader; everyone else just... forgot. After the creation of the Hidden Villages and the different kingdoms, the knowledge remained with the leaders of each country and village, while everyone else lost all knowledge. I'm not certain_ how _, but it seems to be a jutsu of some sort..."_ **  
**

**"Jutsu?"**

_"The techniques we can use with chakra."_

**"Oh. So, what are the Tailed Beasts?"**

_"I was hoping you would ask..."_ Sarutobi pulled a face.  _"The chakra I just mentioned earlier... imagine that there were nine beings, taller than the mountains themselves, that were completely comprised of chakra."_ Dell gaped. **  
**

**"Is that even possible?!"**

_"It is. The nine beasts are classified by the number of tails each possess; both strength-wise and name-wise. There is the Ichibi no Tanuki, the Nibi no Bakeneko, the Sanbi no Kame, the Yonbi no Saru, the Gobi no Iruka-ba, the Rokubi no Suraggu, the Nanabi no Kabutomushi, the Hachibi no Ushi-oni, and the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Of course, we wouldn't allow such creatures to roam free throughout our world. So, some time before the Clan Wars' end, the first leader of this village, Hashirama Senju, captured each beast and gave them out to the different countries as a balance of power. Fighting a Tailed Beast is something no one would be willing to go up against."_ Dell nodded.

 **"Makes sense. It's like a deterrent for war."** Hiruzen sighed.

 _"If only that were the case... we have had three separate wars since the Clan Wars, with the five villages choosing sides and attempting to kill each other."_ Dell hummed sadly.

 **"But... where would you keep one of these creatures? There's no logical place for it, unless you plan on burying it miles underground..."** Hiruzen chuckled lightly.

_"No. We use a branch of the ninja arts known as Fuinjutsu, the Art of Sealing. By using special chakra ink, sealwork can do... almost anything, if you have the mind for it."_

**"So... this paper we're holding right now..."**

_"Yes. Seals were written on it so that, when you put your blood on the paper, it automatically translates writing into your own dialect. Both sheets have also been made into 'twins' of a sort, so that what happens on one sheet is copied onto the other."_

**"You said anything..."**

_"I did. Sealing objects into a pocket-dimension is beginner-level Fuinjutsu compared to this work."_

**"Wait, sealing _objects_?!"**  Hiruzen raised a finger, and pulled out a sheet of sealing paper from within his desk. He placed a pen on top, and, after putting his hands in the Tora seal, shouted, "Fuin!" There was a puff of smoke, and, after it dissipated, the pen had vanished. Hiruzen then put his hands in the Ram seal, and shouted, "Kai!" In another puff of smoke, the pen returned(2).

Dell's jaw was officially on the ground.

 _"Yes, sealing objects."_ Dell swallowed heavily, and returned to his train of thought.

**"So, you seal giant monsters into that tiny piece of paper-"**

_"What, are you crazy?! There's no_ way _a Tailed Beast could be held in an everyday object!"_

**"But, you just said-"**

_"Forgive me, I forgot that you had no idea how this works. No, sealing a Bijuu, which is another name for the Tailed Beasts, into a piece of paper... well, if the attempt doesn't kill you, the explosion from when the paper is destroyed just might."_

**"So, seals do have limits to what they can do, including sealing a mass of chakra into a tiny piece of paper."**

_"It would be like injecting about twenty tons of chakra into the paper."_

**"I see... so what _do_ you seal the Bijuu into, if you can't put it into paper?"**

_"...newborn children."_

"WHAT IN TARNATIONGIVES YOU PEOPLE THE  _RIGHT_ -"

"Ochitsuite kudasai! _(Please calm down!)_ " Dell huffed angrily, knowing the Hokage couldn't understand him in the first place.

**"I cannot _believe_ you people! What would make you do something like that?!"**

_"It's either that, or let the Bijuu destroy the entire village! These aren't peaceful creatures, Engineer; they would crush you underfoot in a heartbeat, with_ no remorse _! We Kages have to make a choice: either that one person, or our entire peoples."_

**"...still, that's no excuse."**

_"I feel terrible every day, Engineer. The person chosen, which we call a jinchuuriki, is destined to a life of loneliness. They are scorned by the civilians, and are the pariahs of the village. Jinchuuriki cannot retain control of the Bijuu forever, Engineer. The seal can falter, the jinchuuriki can die, or, Kami forbid, the Bijuu is willingly released. Most of those people lose family when the jinchuuriki loses control of the Bijuu, and the next jinchuuriki has to bear all of their hatred... and the cycle starts all over again."_

**"So, that boy..."** Hiruzen sighed heavily.  _This_ was the moment of truth. _  
_

_"Yes. He is the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, the strongest of the nine. It has been his burden since birth, and the entire adult population sees him as nothing but the fox itself."_

**"THAT'S FUCKING STUPID!"** Hiruzen stared at the words on the page, jaw on the floor.  **"Pardon my language. But still! You just said that... sealing an object is like storing an object into another space. If that's the case, then that boy is like a piece of paper; he holds it, but is not _it_!"**  Hiruzen stared at the words, before smiling widely.

_"In half an hour, you've already understood more about Naruto than the entire village could fathom."_

**"Naruto's his name then... so, why don't his parents protect him? If letting his entire back get branded while his right hand gets chopped off is 'protection', I'll eat my hat."**

_"He's an orphan. Both his parents died the night of his birth; the day the Kyuubi attacked our village."_

**"Then why isn't the orphanage protect- no, wait. I answered my own question."**

_"You would be correct. He was kicked out at the age of four, and I purchased an apartment for him to live in. He has a weekly allowance for groceries, and the utilities are paid for, but he lives by himself."_

**"Not _one_ person in this village would want to adopt him?"**

_"If they do, they either can't afford it or their job is too... much... for them to be able to take care of him effectively."_

**"I see... where's Naruto now?"**

_"He's in the hospital. His injuries are being treated by a doctor I_ do  _trust with Naruto, so he should be okay within a day or two. He has an unusually high healing rate, allowing him to recover in days what would usually take weeks for a normal person."_

**"I would like to see him soon... but I need my tools for something."**

_"Your... tools?"_

**"Ask one of your masked ninja to bring me back at the clearing they found me. I have something useful there."**

...

...

_(Half an hour later...)_

"Well? Is this workin'?" Hiruzen reached for the paper on his desk, slack-jawed all the while. "No no, you don' need ta do that. Jus' talk ta me normal."

"Engineer?"

"Yep! Do ya like mah invention? It'sa translator device; whatever I say comes out in your language, and anythin' I hear, I hear in mine." Dell explained.

"But- but how do you have our  _entire_ language translated already?"

"Oh, that's easy! Y'all are speakin' Japanese!"

"Japa... what?"

"It's an island country off tha coast 'a China, probably right 'round where y'all split away from tha mainland. Tha dialect remains tha same, and it's already in mah machine's database, so it translates perfectly!"

"Is that why you were able to communicate with us in the forest?" Inu suddenly asked from his place next to Dell.

"Naw!  _That_ was because I studied Japanese in school! I don' remember much, but I knew 'nough to get y'all off my back."

"Sorry about that, by the way... it's just that-"

"When a stranger is standin' over a bloody kid, while a weird machine is doing some glowy-thing ta him, you'd rather attack first n' ask questions later."

"In a nutshell, yeah."

"Anyways, is Naruto doin' okay?"

"A messenger from the hospital came in while you two were gone. While Naruto is on the mend, there are some... complications... that he needs to know about." Dell nodded.

"Alright. Can I wait fer him ta wake up?"

"Of course you can. I'd think that Naruto would want to meet his savior sooner rather than later."

* * *

**I'm DONE!**

**Oh my GOD this took too long to write! I started in August, and it's September!**

**A.N.'s:**

**(1): I'm not writing this out. Use your own imagination on how this played out. I'm not a violent guy, and I don't think violent thoughts, so this was a no-no for me.**

**(2): I don't know if these are the correct hand-seals for Fuin and Kai. Let me know if I screwed up! :)**

**In other news, I'm leaving for a vacation over the weekend. I'm bringing my laptop, but I'm not sure whether or not I'll have Internet access. If I don't, the chapter will not be updated anytime soon. If I _do_... probably the same thing.  
**

**Check me out on my Tumblrto see all my recent work!**

**Until then,**

**~ _Kage Musha_**


	2. Father and Son

Naruto moaned softly, his eyes slowly opening then shutting again from the brightness of the room.

"Naruto-kun! Are you feeling okay?"

It was Jiji… which meant he was safe.

"Jiji... where...?"

"You're in the hospital right now, Naruto-kun. You've been asleep for three days, and... well..."

"Wh-why can't I feel my fingers?! What happ-" Naruto broke off, suddenly remembering  _exactly_ what had happened to him. "No… no. No! NONONONO-"

"Naruto!" Naruto started to panic, his breathing becoming erratic. "Naru-DOCTOR!"

A man in a white coat burst through the door. He immediately took stock of the situation, and quickly grabbed a breathing mask to put on Naruto's mouth.

"It's okay, it's okay. Just breathe normal; in and out, in and out, in, and out, in... and out." He spoke as soothingly as he could, calming Naruto down until the boy started breathing normally again. "Better?" Naruto's eyes began to water, heartbroken.

"Thank you for your help, doctor, but I think you should leave for a moment..." Sarutobi said quietly. The doctor bowed slightly to the village leader, and hastily made for the door. Sarutobi removed the mask from Naruto's face, and gently drew the boy in for a hug, who began to sob.

"Shhh... it's okay, Naruto. I promise they won't hurt you again."

"N-no! Th-that's not w-what I'm c-crying about! I-I can't k-keep my p-promise to you, j-jiji; I w-won't be able t-to t-take your h-hat from you!" Another bout of sobs enveloped the boy, and Hiruzen slightly teared up himself.

Naruto's dream was crushed in a single night.

There would be  _hell_ to pay in the village.

...

..

.

Naruto had cried himself to sleep within the hour after his panic attack, exhausted from everything he had to endure. Hiruzen slowly creeped out the door, and closed it gently before turning to see Dell sitting in a chair across the hall from Naruto's room. Sarutobi quickly walked up to the man, and stared him dead in the eye.

"If you do anything, and I mean  _anything_ , to cause Naruto more grief, I will  _personally_ punt you all the way back to wherever you came from; am I  **clear** **?** " Dell swallowed nervously, knowing it was best to not anger a man who had more power in one finger than Dell had in his whole body.

"Ah, y-yes sir..." Dell stuttered out.

"Good."

"So, um... how's th' lil' guy doin'?" came the innocent question. Sarutobi sighed heavily.

"He's not upset about what happened to him..."

"Seriously?"

"...he's devastated by the fact that he can no longer take my place when he grows up." Dell smiled softly.

"He wanted ta be tha Hokage someday?" Sarutobi's own mouth formed a smile.

"He did. Not just so he could be a leader of an entire village; he knew that if he was the Hokage he would gain the village's acknowledgement. That was his dream: to be acknowledged as a person by the village... but now..."

"He can't be tha Hokage... why's that?"

"You saw those marks on his back, correct?" Dell gave a short nod, and Sarutobi sat down next to him. "Well, that specific sealing array locks up all the tenketsu, which are the release points of chakra. Chakra flows from the tenketsu, and we use them for our shinobi techniques. However, with his tenketsu completely locked, he can't do anything that even an Academy student would do with ease. He has completely lost the ability to be a shinobi, much less the Hokage." Dell swore softly.

"What kind'a Devil spawn would do somethin' like that t'a lil' kid?! Ruinin' his entire life! And for  _what_?!  _Vengeance_?!"

"Calm down please, Engineer-san."

"...sorry. S'just... where I come from, those people'd probably already be 'n jail for child abuse... so it's hard fer me t'accept somethin' like this..." Sarutobi sighed again.

"I wish I could do something for him though..." Dell looked at his companion, confused.

"But... you're th' leader of tha village. Why wouldn't you be able ta do somethin'?"

"Stupid council, that's why..." Dell looked at the Kage closely.

"Are... are you  _poutin'_?!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes y'are! You are  _poutin'_!" Dell said with a smirk on his face. Sarutobi put his head in his hands in exhaustion.

"...I just have no power in the Council anymore. The Civilian side always votes against what would be good for the boy, and vice-versa for the bad things. The Shinobi side, however, ends up about fifty-fifty in most cases, so I'm barely able to keep Naruto safe from them..." Dell frowned.

"Tell me, how does one become th' Hokage in this 'ere village?" Sarutobi looked up, confused by the change in topic.

"Well... the previous Hokage usually nominates them after they show great skill, valor, and intelligence in the field."

"And I'm guessin' you've done some pretty 'mazin' stuff out there, yea?"

"Of course I have! They don't call me the  _God of Shinobi_ for nothing! ...of course, several other people hold that title as well, but I digress."

"So tell me: how does this  _God of Shinobi_ , who has defeated countless enemies 'n tha field,  _quail_ under this 'Civilian Council'?" Sarutobi sat there for a few seconds, processing this idea. His mouth suddenly set in a grim line, and he stood up tall.

"Engineer-san..." he began. "Go and stay with Naruto-kun while he sleeps; I have a...  _pressing engagement_..." He marched down the hall.

"And where 'n Sam Hill are ya goin'?!"

"To the Council. It's time I lay down the law." With that, Sarutobi vanished in a  **shunshin**. Dell started to chuckled.

"Welp, looks like our  _God of Shinobi_ is back in action!" He suddenly looked to the door into Naruto's room.

 _'Maybe... maybe_ this _time... things will work out...'_ He thought to himself as he walked through the doorway.

...

..

.

Sarutobi was practically skipping down the hallway, overjoyed by, what he thought, was the  _most successful_ council meeting he had been to in  _ages_.

First, he started out with intimidation tactics; let them know  _exactly_ who's boss in this village.

Then he started reprimanding the Civilian Council. Those old fogies (not like  _he_ could talk) had been taking too much power away from him over the years.

Finally, he ordered his ANBU to go through a complete investigation on the affairs within the village. If a  _single ryu_ was out of place, he wanted to know who, what, where, when, why, and how. For a moment, he thought he saw some of the Civilians sweat a little at that decree, but only time would tell why.

So, yes; a  _very_ successful meeting today.

Sarutobi walked into Naruto's room and shut the door quietly before sitting in the chair next to Dell's.

"Any change?" he asked quietly. Dell shook his head.

"Nothin'. He's just exhausted from all that he went through..."

"I know... an orphan since birth, and life hasn't been any easier on him, regardless... What about you? Do you have a family waiting for you at your home?" Dell tensed up slightly, something that did not go unnoticed by the aged shinobi.

"...ten years."

"Excuse me?"

"It's been ten years since I last saw 'em. I was... different... from tha other boys when I was growin' up(1). Sarah was my only friend as a child, and, when we got older, we realized that we loved each other as more th'n friends. So, we married, 'n within a year she was expectin' two; a girl 'n a boy."

"Does your job prevent you from seeing them?" Dell laughed hollowly, and that's when Sarutobi knew.

"Ten years ago, I was drivin' home with my wife sleepin' in the backseat, tired from th' pregnancy."

"'Driving'?"

"A car. A car's, like, a cart that could make it 'cross th' village in 'bout ten minutes. Everyone uses it where I come from, but not everyone who uses it is smart 'bout it..."

"How so?"

"Would you 'llow your soldiers to go fightin' when they're drunk? Same principle with drivin'..."

"So, someone else was driving after they got themselves drunk?" Dell sighed.

"Yeah... 'n they drove right into the side of my car... right where Sarah was sleepin'..."

"Dear Kami..." Sarutobi breathed. Dell sniffed a little, his eyes starting to water.

"'Dead upon impact', they said... I can't tell if that was a blessin' or a curse, since they weren't in any pain, but... it  _hurts_... it hurts knowin' that, a week before I could'a been a father, it was all taken from me..." He snapped his fingers. "...just like that."

"I see..."

"Funny thing is, bein' a father was my one goal in life. That might'a been th' reason I married Sarah, but she wanted t'be a mother as much as I wanted t'be a father. 'N then, I lost all three of 'em, 'n I was hired by RED almost immediately after that... I haven't gotten th' chance yet..."

...

..

.

Naruto's eyes snapped open, and he shot up in bed.

"JIJI!" he yelled out.

"I'm right here, Naruto-kun." There he was, sitting in a chair with... some man...

Wait, wasn't that the guy...

"Jiji, who's that?" The Hokage chuckled.

"Straight to the point, I see. Well Naruto, this man saved your life." Naruto eyed the stranger warily.

"But who is he?" The stranger's head dipped slightly.

"Well, my name's Dell. Dell Conagher. Ya showed up in ma campsite coupl'a nights ago, and I signaled tha... what were they called 'gain? ANBU! Yeah, that's what they were..." Naruto blinked.

"You mean... you don't h-hate me?" Dell looked shocked.

"What, cute lil' kid like you?! Naw!" he started to chuckle good-naturedly, and Naruto couldn't help but crack a smile.

"T-thank you, Conagher-sama..." Dell waggled a finger playfully

"Now, now; none'a that 'Conagher-sama' business. You c'n call me Dell." Naruto grinned.

"Alright then, Dell-sama!" Dell's finger fell, and he sighed.

"Well... it's progress..."

"What's wrong,  _Dell-sama_?" Dell frowned.

"Naruto..."

"Is something bothering you,  _Dell-sama_?" Hiruzen suddenly had a coughing fit.

"Are you seriously-"

"Maybe I should stop,  _Dell-sama_?"

"Naruto, please-"

" _Dell-sama_!"

"FISHCAKE!" Naruto gasped, and Dell grew a triumphant grin. "I knew it! That's what Naruto meant: 'fishcake'!"

"Dammit! Why don't people realize it means 'maelstrom'?!" Why do we  _always_ end up with the 'fishcake'?" Naruto pouted, and Dell started chuckling.

"No more 'fishcake', fer no more 'Dell-sama'; how's that sound t'you?" Naruto considered it for barely a millisecond.

"DEAL!" he cried out.

...

..

.

Dell followed the Hokage into his office, having left an hour or so after meeting Naruto. After some more small talk with the boy, Dell explained who he was and why he was here.

To say Naruto was shocked would be an understatement, but the boy took it reasonably well.

Of course, that didn't stop Naruto from asking a thousand or so questions about Dell's home...

"He's such a sweet kid once ya get t' know 'im..." Dell sighed. "How can these villagers be so goddammed blind?!"

"That's a question I ask myself everyday, Conagher-san... please, sit." Both men sat on either side of the Hokage's desk. "Now then, what were your plans for coming to the Elemental Nations in the first place?"

"Well, erm... ma boss wanted t' claim this place as his own..."

"I see..."

"Not like that! No, we had no idea this place was inhabited by people! So, they sent  _me_  (god knows why) to scout out the area for 'em. Of course, this is an entirely separate civilization from ma own... I have no idea what will happen now..."

"So, you still need to report this to your superior."

"Yessir... hopefully, they'll leave y'all alone, or request an... alliance, of sorts..."

"Then I hope you won't mind if I ask something of you."

"What d'ya need, sir?"

"I was wondering... if you were willing to adopt Naruto."

...

Silence.

"U-um, t-that's a t-tall order, s-s-sir..." Dell stuttered out.

"I know, I know it is... but I have no alternative! He can't very well stay here with a missing hand and no chakra!" Dell sighed.

"Even if  _your_ country would 'llow it, what makes you think  _mine_ would?!"

"That will be part of our... alliance."

"But, we don't even know if there's even gonna  _be_ an alliance!"

"Dell, stop thinking about all the technicalities of this for a moment, and tell me: do you want to adopt Naruto?" Dell stared for a few seconds.

"I... I do. I really do. He's a sweet kid, he's got a spark t'im, and... I can relate t'im, in a way..."

"How so?" Dell took a deep breath, and pulled off his glove to reveal a metal hand. "...dear Kami..."

"Yeh... I lost ma hand in an accident, so I made a new one... Works perfectly, if I may say so ma'self."

"So, Naruto could, in theory-"

"Get a new hand? 'Course he could! I'll make it ma'self!" Sarutobi smiled wide.

"So, you  _are_ adopting him?" Dell blinked.

"...I reckon I am."

...

..

.

Naruto stared at Dell in shock.

"Y-you want to...  _adopt me_?!" Dell smiled warmly.

"Yessir."

"B-b-but  _why_?!"

"Why not?"

"Because-... because..." Dell put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Yer selling yerrself short, kid... don't think like them villagers, 'cuz they're wrong." Naruto sniffed.

"You just met me, though..."

"And you just met me. Yet, ya haven't once said ya don't wanna do this." Naruto's eyes started to water.

"You... you really want to adopt me?" he asked once more. Dell tilted the blonde's head up until they were looking each other dead in the eyes.

"...I do." Dell ended up on his knees, with Naruto hugging him around the neck, sobbing.

"I-I have a d-dad..." He suddenly looked out the window. "YOU HEAR THAT, KONOHA?! I HAVE A TOU-SAN!"

"...and I have a son." Dell whispered.

...

..

.

"Alright, Naruto, I need ya t' listen  _very_ carefully t' me, okay?" Naruto nodded excitedly. Dell nodded back, and pulled out a strange, red box. He put it onthe ground, pressed a few buttons, and the box started to transform into something else. "What this is, is a Teleporter." Hiruzen's pipe fell out of his mouth.

"Y-y-you've discovered instant transportation?!" Dell scoffed.

"Like y'all don't already do that!" Hiruzen contemplated that statement, then sighed after realizing Dell was correct. "Anyways, this 'ere machine 'llows us ta travel between this room, and my workplace, which happens ta be 500 miles or so east 'a here."

"Wow! So  _cool_ , Tou-san!" Naruto said. Dell chuckled, loving his decision more and more every second.

"Luckily, this one has back-n-forth teleportin', so we can come back 'ere whenever y'all want. Of course, this has some... drawbacks t'it." Sarutobi frowned.

"Like what?" Dell scratched at the back of his head.

"Well... the connection needs some time ta 'warm up'; if it ain't properly connected, then ya might...  _lose something_... on tha way over." He shuddered at the thought of it.

"You mean..."

"Yeah, I do." Hiruzen swallowed nervously. "So, that's why I'm gonna go over first, and... explain some things t'my co-workers. Naruto; this is where I want you to pay attention, you too, Sarutobi: Once I'm over, I'mma turn this off (you'll know it's off). Once it starts turnin' back on,  _you have to wait five minutes before you c'n come over, Naruto_ , got it?" Naruto nodded seriously. "Good. Now, I'm gonna be gone fer a bit! See you on the other side... son." With that, Dell stepped on top of the newly-finished Teleporter. Sarutobi's eyes widened, just at the same time Dell's did.

"Oh... shit."

Dell disappeared in a flash of red light.

...

..

.

"AGH!  _SHIT_!" Dell screamed. The sound echoed throughout the base, causing many RED mercenarys' heads to snap up in alarm.

"Was zhat..."

"Leetle man?"

" _Truckie_?"

"Hard-hat's back?"

"WHAT IS THAT MAGGOT SCREAMING IN PAIN ABOUT,  _NOW_?!"

"Out of my way. Quickly,  _dummkopfs_!"

"Mmmph-mmph!"

Medic rushed down the hall to the room with the teleporter Engineer stashed before he left on his mission from Redmond. He opened the door, and paled slightly after seeing the state the builder was in.

"Vhat on  _earth_ happened to your  _leg_?!" Medic yelped.

It was true; Engineer's left leg was nothing but a stump from the knee down.

"T-t-t-t-teleporter." Dell got out, beginning to show signs of shock.

" _Verdammte Scheiße_!(2)" Medic cursed loudly. Dell wheezed out a short laugh.

"W-w-watch your m-mouth, s-sir..." he gasped out. Medic sighed and trained his Medigun on him. Slowly, the wound started to heal until Engineer's leg was completely normal again. Dell breathed a sigh of relief, the pain having finally receded.

"Y'know, I wish I had been employed 'ere  _before_ I tried ta chop ma hand off..."

"You do not like your 'Gunslinger'?"

"Not what I meant, Doc, 'n you know it..." Medic chuckled lightly, before hoisting the Engineer to his feet. He turned around to see the entire team standing behind him.

"ENGIE!" Dell had to brace himself for the onslaught of questions.

"Where were you?!

"What 'appened to ya, mate?!"

"Where did leetle man go?!"

"WHERE DID OUR SUPERIOR SEND YOU, PRIVATE?!"

"...what's up wit dat weird collar?"

"QUIET!" Dell yelled. Everyone quickly shut up, and Dell took a deep breath to calm himself.

"I c'n explain, but the Administrator needs ta know I'm back, first."

"I will go. I already know what you were up to,  _mon ami_." Dell glanced over to the Spy warily.

"They told ya?" Spy chuckled.

" _Non_. But, you should remember there is not much I do not know." With that, the Frenchman cloaked himself and disappeared from the room.

"You'll be eatin' your words soon, Spah!" Dell called after him. A disembodied chuckled was his only response, and Dell involuntarily shuddered.

_'Hate it when he does that...'_

...

..

.

"...so, t'was 'round night three when things  _really_ kicked off. I was sittin' at camp, writin' in my journal, when, out of nowhere-" He broke off, suddenly noticing that the teleporter had started to light up. "...he did  _not_." Dell said in shock as the teleporter began to send someone in. "He did  _not_ just do what I think he did!" A figure formed in the red light, and out popped Naruto.

"TOU-SAN!" he screamed as launched himself at Dell. He grabbed on tightly in a hug. "W-w-watashi wa anata ga k-kizutsuita to omotta!  _(I-I-I thought you w-were hurt!)_ " Dell quickly knelt down to hug Naruto, flicking a switch on his collar as he did so.

"Sore wa kekkōdesu, watashi no dōryō ga watashi o iyashi.  _(It's fine, my co-workers healed me.)_ "

*cue gasps from the other mercs*

"Herr Engineer, vhat is zhe meaning of zhis?!" Dell looked back at the doctor, stone-faced.

"Watashi wa kansha shitai _-_  ack!" He quickly flicked the switch on his collar again. "I'd appreciate it if you did not talk about my son that way."

*another round of gasps*

"V-vhat are you saying?!"

"I already said I would explain, but let me take care of something first." He turned back to Naruto, flicking the switch once more. "Watashi wa anata ga watashi wa daijōbu, anata ni korera o oku yō ni suru hitsuyō ga arimasu ka? _(I need you to let me put these on you, okay?)_ " Nartuo eyed the pieces warily, but nodded. Dell quickly switched the equipment onto Naruto and pressed the button on it. "Alrighty then! Why don'tcha introduce yerself to ma co-workers?!" Naruto gulped nervously.

" _O-Ohayo_... M-my name is Naruto." He seemed shocked that his words were different than what he intended.

"It's okay, son. That collar's translatin' your words into somethin' we all understand. Same thing with the ear hooks, it let's ya hear your language, even if we're speakin' somethin' else." Naruto's eyes grew wide as saucers.

"Wow! So  _cool_ , tou-san!" Scout, of course, chose this time to interject.

"What 'da heck does 'tou-san' even  _mean_?!" Naruto glared (cutely) at the runner.

"It  _means_ tou-san!" Scout gaped stupidly.

"Ya just said 'da same thing twice, numb-nu-"

"WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!" Dell roared, shocking Scout into silence. "What he's  _actually_ calling me is 'father', in Japanese."

"He speaks Japanese? You never vent to Japan!" Dell sighed tiredly.

"His people speak a dialect almost  _exactly_ th' same as Japanese, with some small differences."

"Where is leetle boy from?" Heavy spoke up. Naruto pouted in annoyance.

"I'm not little!"

"He's from... where I went on ma mission."

"Not answer, leetle man."

"Tou-san isn't little either!"

"Thank you, Naruto... look, I gotta talk t'tha Administrator 'bout this, so-" Medic chose this exact moment to notice Naruto's stump of a hand.

"Vhat on  _earth_ happened to your arm,  _kind_?!" Naruto looked as though he turned into a statue, he was so still. His eyes started to water, and he sniffed.

"B-bad people..." Dell put an arm around his son protectively, glaring at Medic as he did so.

"Like I was sayin', I'm gonna hafta tell The Administrator about ma mission and...  _other things_ , so just let me tell all y'all at tha same time, 'kay?" Everyone grumbled slightly, but accepted his request. "Good. Alrighty, Naruto..." He hoisted his son up onto his shoulder, so that he was giving the blonde a piggy-back ride. "...why don't we go say hello t'ma boss?" He walked out the door, Naruto giggling from his perch as he wiped away his tears, leaving several stunned mercenaries behind.

"'N all ma years workin' wit Truckie, I ain't never seen 'im act so..."

"Weird?"

"WEAK?!"

"Funny?"

"Bllrrry?"

"Mmph-hmm?"

"...happy." Sniper finished.

...

..

.

"Is The Administrator ready t'talk?" Dell asked.

"She iz... and where did zhat-"

"I'm explainin' in a sec'! Just be  _patient_!" Whatever Spy had to say died in his mouth at Engineer's sudden harshness.

"...I am expecting answers."

"And y'all are gettin' them... soon." Spy nodded shortly, and returned to waiting for the monitor to turn on. The rest of the RED entered just as The Administator appeared on the screen.

"Engineer. I heard from Spy that you had returned from your mission... with a souvenir, I see." Dell swallowed nervously.

"Yes ma'am. This is Naruto, and, well... he's ma son."

Spy's cigarette almost fell out of his mouth (much to the amusement of Sniper). The Administrator, on the other hand, kept a calm demeanor.

"Adopted?"

"Yes ma'am."

"So, there was an  _actual_  civilization on that landmass we discovered."

"Yes ma'am. However, their bodies are more advanced than tha rest of th' worlds'. ...let me start from when I first landed. I ended up gettin' blown off course-"

...

..

.

"...and their lifestyles all revolve around shinobi life," Dell finished. He looked around and noted, bemusedly, the completely stupefied faces of all his teammates, and the raised eyebrow of the Administrator (which was the most emotion she had shown since the day he first saw her).

"Well... that is  _quite_ the story, Engineer. However, why is that child with you?" He glared at her for a moment.

"His  _name_ is  _Naruto_." Her lips twitched, whether in annoyance or amusement he could not tell.

"Fine; why is  _Naruto_ with you?" she reiterated.

"Why?" Dell snarled. "Trust me, ma son  _will_   _not_ be stayin' in that goddammed village anymore! The things he's had ta go through... I hope y'all noticed his arm?" The Administrator started to nod, then froze.

"You mean, those villagers-"

"-cut off my son's hand like he was worthless? Yes ma'am."

"But why?! What has leetle boy done to stupid peoples?!" Dell sighed.

"I... I can't talk about it now." The Administrator frowned in annoyance.

"You can, and you  _will_." Dell swallowed nervously, and glanced up at Naruto, who was confused as to what his tou-san was talking about.

"No, I can't talk about it right  _now_." This time, he subtly pointed at Naruto in a way that everyone could see but the boy himself. The Administrator sighed.

"Fine, I'll let it slide...  _for now_. However, Engineer, what were your actual plans for Naruto  _after_ bringing him here?"

"Honestly? I was hopin' ta explain all this  _before_ bringin' him over, but I realized I bungled ma teleportin', and he did too. So, afta waitin' 'til he knew t'was safe to cross over, he came over ta make sure I was okay. 'N terms of what to do with 'im... I hadn't thought that far ahead..." he admitted sheepishly.

"It's okay, tou-san! We can talk about it now with your Kage!" The Administrator blinked, along with the rest of RED.

"She's not a Kage, Naruto..." The little boy looked confused.

"But, you're all kinda like shinobi! And the leader of shinobi is the Kage! So, she's a Kage!" Naruto declared with the logic only a child could create.

"I... I  _guess_ so?"

"So, what can Naruto  _do_ , exactly?" Dell started to speak, but froze before glaring at the woman.

"Ma'am, you are  _not_ sendin' Naruto int'a th' Team Fortress program." The Administrator only stared at him.

"He wants to be a shinobi? Well, that's not possible from what you told me. This is the next best thing for him, and he won't be in any  _actual_ danger, as you all know  _so_ well." Dell opened his mouth for a retort, but found there wasn't anything he could think of. "How about this: let's ask  _Naruto_ what he wants to do." All eyes turned to the blonde who remained seated on his perch.

"W-well... I wanted to be a Kage like jiji, 'cuz I wanted people to acknowledge me. And if I was the Hokage, then the village would have to see me as Naruto! Not some demon brat, like they call me..." The Administrator frowned.

_'Demon brat? Why would they say such a thing?'_

"...so, I want to get stronger! So that, if I was gonna go back to Konoha someday, they'd all see that I'm not just some brat; I'm Naruto Uzumaki-Conagher!" The Administrator stared down at him, though not harshly.

"I see. Engineer, I will allow your son to stay with you in the RED base..."

"Oh, thank you!"

"...provided that he is trained to become a new class someday."

"...a new class?"

"Yes. I'll leave all the...  _details_ up to you, on what Naruto is to do. While I do not expect him on the battlefield at his age, I want him out there soon."

"12!" Naruto suddenly shouted out. Everyone stared at him, confused. "12 is the age when ninjas graduate from the Academy as Genins; I'm gonna do the same, and join when I'm 12!"

The Administrator almost grew a smile, but remained impassive.

"You certainly have determination, I'll give you that." She quickly pretended to check her watch. "My time is up for now. I will talk to you later, Engineer,  _understood_?" He quickly nodded his assent, and the screen went black.

"Well, Naruto... welcome t' tha team... I guess..." Dell said hesitantly, just now noticing the looks of apprehension on RED's faces. "What's eatin' y'all, fellas?"

"A kid. You want us to train a kid?" Scout asked skeptically. Dell's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Y'all got somethin' bad ta say 'bout  _my son_?"

"Dude, it's a  _kid_!" Scout argued.

"Well, this  _kid_ c'n very well be savin' your sorry be-hind someday!"

"Tou-san... please, don't fight with your friends over me..." All the focus returned to Naruto.

"Well, he ain't leavin' tha base anytime soon... where's 'e gonna sleep?"

"We have plenty of spare-"

"I'll sleep in tou-san's room."

"...you don't want your own room?" Dell asked his son. Naruto's mouth slowly formed an 'o' shape.

"I-I can have my own  _room_?!" Dell smiled faintly.

"Of course. We got plenty 'a extras around th' base-" He broke off, due to Naruto tackle-hugging him in joy.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyuothankyouth-"

"Slow down, hoss!" Dell joked. "Now, why don't we go pick one out, 'kay?" Naruto giggled in happiness, and, after securing Naruto in another piggy-back ride, Dell quickly carried him off in search of the perfect room.

The rest of RED sat in silence, until they slowly left one-by-one.

...

..

.

Naruto crashed onto the bed, laughing in happiness over the fact that he had his own room. _  
_

 _'And to think, today started out so horribly!'_ he thought to himself.

"You likin' it?" Dell asked, amused.

"Like it? I  _love_ it! I've never had a room to myself before! ...well, I had an apartment, but I was living by myself there.  _Here_ , I'm living with you guys, and I get my own room!" Dell smiled affectionately.

"I'm glad you're likin' it, pal." He suddenly noticed his watch. "Holy heck! It's 9:50  _already_?! Reckon' it's time for bed, Naruto..." Naruto pouted.

"Awww, but I wanted to meet the others!" Dell chuckled sheepishly.

"Hehehe, well... they're not  _overly thrilled_ to meet'cha just yet... I promise I'll have each of 'em introduce themselves tomorrow, 'kay? After that, we'll discuss what your role's gonna be in the Wars... which I am  **not** happy about, Naruto." Naruto began to imitate his father's chuckling.

"Well, I still wanna do it, tou-san!" Dell sighed.

"I know ya do, n' that's why I'm not stoppin' ya... I just wish you'd 've put more thought inta this decision."

"Tou-san, I'll be  _fine_!" Dell smiled.

"Sorry... reckon it's just a parent's nature ta worry 'bout their kid..." Dell swiftly tucked Naruto in, gave him a good-night hug, and exited the room, though not without a final 'g'night, son' before he left.

Naruto smiled wide, happy that something good finally came around in his life.

...

...

It was official...

...he couldn't sleep.

No matter  _what_ methods he tried, be it holding his eyes shut or counting the imaginary sheep, he  _could not fall asleep_.

...maybe he could go find tou-san. He'd explain the situation, and maybe tou-san could fix it!

Yeah, that'll work!

After making it to the door, Naruto opened it ever so gently, so as to not wake anyone else who might have been sleeping at this time. Once the gap was wide enough, Naruto quietly slid out, using his few years of pranking experience and stealth practice to get by without making a sound. He turned a corner, and ended up seeing a hallway of unmarked doors. Naruto sighed in annoyance, and was about to continue looking when he noticed a thin ray of light coming from an offshoot hall. He moved forward, wondering what the light was, when he heard a voice.

"...us all what your reasoning behind bringing the boy here is." That was The Administrator; he was sure of it! But who would she be calling so late?

"Well, I didn' want t'say while Naruto was in th' room..." Tou-san?

What was going on?

Deciding to listen in, Naruto followed the source of the light, until he came to a set of doors, one of which was slightly ajar, allowing the light to exit the room.

"You've already seen his hand... or, what  _used_ t'be his hand... (Naruto involuntarily flinched, bringing his damaged arm closer to his chest)... but there was more to his injuries than that."

"Like what?"

"The Fuinjutsu I mentioned? The Art of Seals? Well, some devil spawn decided ta seal Naruto's back, with a fuckin',  _brandin' iron_." The rest of RED, as far as he could tell amongst the cacophony of yelling, were screaming out what they thought on it.

"UN-AMERICAN!"

"That ain't right, man!"

"How dare peoples hurt leetle boy!"

"Holy  _dooley_!"

" _Mon dieu_!"

"Shhck Bashtards!"

"MMMPH-HMMM!"

" _V_ _erdammte scheiße_!"

"Still that doesn't explain why you decided to adopt him..." The Administrator reiterated, once the yelling had died down.

"Well... I just didn' want ta see him get hurt no more!"

" _Engineer_..." came the warning.

A sigh.

"I was interested in tha idea of adoptin' him after I met 'im, but... the Hokage gave me th' incentive t' actually do it. He explained that he'd be willing to work out a treaty, but only if I adopted 'im." Naruto nearly choked.

 _'Did tou-san... did he even_ want  _me?!'_

"There's more... The Hokage also explained the actual reasonin' behind why Naruto was targeted as th' village pariah..."

"What? Why is he attacked?" Naruto's ear involuntarily drew closer to the gap, wanting to hear 'why'  _so badly_."

"...y'all remember what I said b'fore 'bout jinchuuriki?"

Silence.

"You did  _not_."

RED flew into an uproar, some fearing for their safety, others calling them... well, we won't get into that. The Administrator's fearful expression was quickly removed, and she waited for the mercs to calm down enough for her to silence them without showing too much emotion...

...or, she would've, if her speakers didn't pick up on a sound. The sound of a child's crying.

"SILENCE!"

RED shut up instantly, and they all soon heard it.

"Oh dear God  _no_..." Dell breathed as he ran to the door. It was too late, since, by the time he opened the door, the child had disappeared somewhere throughout the base, leaving no evidence of his spying except for a small puddle of tears. Dell whirled around, panic written all over his face.

"Find him... NOW!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Time!:
> 
> (1): I'm trying to allude to the fact that Engie is, in fact, Bisexual... however, he leans almost completely Gay. That means that he could, possibly, be attracted to Sarah, and they did love each other, but that only came from years of spending time together. (BTW: the fact that he's gay WILL play a part later on!)
> 
> (2): Google translate it yerselves, bitchez!
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> ~Kage Musha


	3. Of Monsters and Jinchuuriki

Naruto kept running.

Where to, was he running? No one knew, not even him.

It didn't matter, he just had to get away from those people.

" _Naruto_!" He heard his father yell for him somewhere in the base.

...could he even call that man a father after this?

He kept running, running until he saw a window that had been carelessly left open.

He quickly climbed out, not noticing the small box with a flashing red light...

...

..

.

_*One of the window alarms has just been triggered. I suspect that Naruto has managed to make it outside...*_ The Administrator informed over the team's earpieces.

"SHIT!" Dell yelled out, as he bolted to the nearest exit.

_*Engie, dude, why are ya so worked up about this? I mean, the kid'll be fine! He'll come back in the mornin', and you can explain-*_ Scout started, before Engineer cut him off.

_*Right now, he is in tha Neutral zone. If he was t' git stuck out there, or, God forbid,_ BLU  _gets ahold of him, he is in_ danger _. He don't have a respawn chip like you n' I do! He could DIE out there, and NOTHIN' WILL BRING HIM BACK! AND I'LL BE DAMMED IF I LET MA CHILD DIE BECAUSE 'A ME AGAIN AFTER-*_ The station suddenly went silent.

_*E-engie?*_

_*Just find him... please...*_ The Engineer sounded close to crying.

There was a pause.

_*YOU HEARD THE TOYMAKER! GET_   _MOVING,_ MAGGOTS _!_ * Soldier screamed into the earpiece.

_*We will find leetle boy!*_

_*Git goin' wankas!*_

_*Mmmph-hmmm!*_

_*Let's DO IT!*_

_*..._ merde _,_   _if you insist...*_

_*Fine.*_

_*What-ev's, Hardhart...*_

...

..

.

Naruto stumbled over a stray rock, but managed to keep himself upright and moving.

He needed to get away.

A cactus thorn managed to get lodged in Naruto's foot, but he pulled it out and trudged on.

He needed to hide.

He fell to the ground, and braced himself against the shoe in front of-wait...

...shoe?

Naruto slowly looked up to see the shocked face of the loudmouth from earlier, except he was wearing blue instead of red.

"When did you change your shirt?" Naruto asked, rubbing his eyes from crying.

"Dude, how the  _hell_ did ya get here?!" Naruto scoffed.

"Tou-san already told you all. The spinny, red 'teleporter' thingy..."

"Red?" Naruto nodded, then froze.

If tou-san was working for RED, and wore red, then this person who was wearing blue...

"I think I'm gonna introduce ya to my team, kid." The stranger said with a twisted smirk.

Naruto, thinking fast, quickly threw dirt in the man's face before bolting off in a random direction.

"Ya lil'  _shit_ ; get back here!"

...

..

.

"NARUTOOOO!" Dell yelled out. "NARUTO!" He stumbled over a stray bush, almost falling to his knees. "Dammit! How far could he have gotten 'n such a short time?!"

A high pitched yelp pierced the night, causing several RED heads to snap in the direction of the noise.

_*Sounded like leetle Scout...*_ Heavy said.

_*Wasn't me, fatty!*_

_*Stop calling Heavy fat!*_

_*You_ are,  _though!*_

_*SILENCE! I will not sit here and listen to you two squabble like_  children _!_ * The Administrator yelled.  _*RED, make your way towards the sound's origin.*_ _  
_

"Ya lil'  _shit_ ; Get back here!"

* _It's the BLU Scout!*_ Sniper warned.  _*I can see'im chasin' after something through m'scope! He's outside the boundaries of the map!*_

...

..

.

The BLU Scout growled angrily.

After being led outside 2Fort's boundaries, he lost the little twerp somewhere in between the boulders dotting the landscape and the crevices defining it.

Luckily, he still had his earpiece on.

_*Yo fellas! I got this kid that came from RED on the run!*_

_*Scout, if zhis is anozher one of your pranks-*_

_*IT'S NOT! Kid's got yellow hair, and he called someone on RED his 'tou-san', whatever da hell that means...*_

_*'Tou-san', eh? ...Gentlemen, zhis_ enfant  _just became our primary target.*_

_*Well, yeah... b-but we're in ceasefire righ' now!*_ the BLU Engineer reminded them.

_*Then don't use your guns. Any ozher stupid questions?*_ Silence was the Spy's response.  _*Then find him.*_

...

..

.

The chase for Naruto went on through the night, RED and BLU slowly converging into the middle until they ended up face to face. RED stood in a straight line, with BLU mirroring them, both teams in a silent staredown.

"Well now, what would RED be doing out on such a night as zhis?" The BLU Spy broke the silence.

"We could ask you zhe same question." RED Spy countered.

"Scout was out for a late-night jog, when he discovered something...  _i_ _nteresting_... wandering about the battlefield. It was only natural zhat zhe rest of us came to investigate."

"I swear, if you touch  _one hair on his head_ -"

"What on earth are you talking about,  _Monsieur_ Engineer?"

"Don't play stupid with me, Spah!  _Where is he_?!"

"Who is zhis 'he'? Your son?" Dell went white as a ghost, while the rest of BLU gasped.

"H-how did you-"

"I didn't; you just told me." Dell snapped, and he rushed the BLU Spy, murder clear in his eyes. He grabbed the Frenchman's collar and pulled the masked face up close to his own, so that they were staring each other dead in the eyes.

"Let's get somethin' straight,  _pal_. You are gonna go back to your base, and you're gonna leave Naruto alone, or so help me God I will send ya  _straight_ ta Hell!" The BLU smirked.

"I think not." A knife plunged itself straight into Dell's heart. He gasped for breath, and stumbled back in pain. RED rushed forward, trying to save their comrade.

"ENGIE! YOU SICK,  _COMMIE-_ "

"Ve are in a ceasefire! Vhat do you sink you are  _doing_?!"

The weirdest reaction, though, came from the BLU Team. The Engineer roared in rage, and had to be held back by the Heavy so that he didn't kill his own teammate.

"HOW  _DARE_ YOU!!!"

"You all know as well as I zhat he-" Spy broke off, suddenly noticing the child staring at the fallen Engineer.

"T-tou-san?" the boy whispered. He slowly stumbled forward in a daze, almost as if he wasn't believing what he was seeing.  _  
_

" _Ficken_..." Medic breathed. "Run. Run now!"

And everything went to hell.

...

..

.

The Administrator finally got her cameras surrounding 2Fort online. They had sat there, unused for who knows how long, so there was a bit of a slow start to rebooting them. It didn't help matters that she lost all contact to RED, due to them leaving the boundaries of 2Fort.

The first screen flashed on, showing nothing but desert.

The second showed the same, except a stray lizard wandered by.

The  _third_ was when things got interesting.

Explosions sounded throughout the desert, the screams of RED and BLU mercenaries accompanying them. In the midst of it all, a blur dashed back and forth, roaring in absolute fury.

"This is  _just_ what I need tonight..." she sighed. She quickly pressed a few buttons on her desk, which activated the extra satellite dishes she prepped for situations outside of the bases.

"Calling all mercs. Does anyone read me?"

_*Ms.- *** -strator! Naruto has- ***** -rampage after Engineer- **** -by tha BLU Spy! The boy's turned int' a- **** -and we can't git through ta him!*_ RED Demo managed to respond. She didn't get everything, due to some interference, but she got the gist of it.

Naruto had gone into a jinchuuriki rampage.

"Demo, where is Engineer now?"

_*Respawn still 'as 'im, ma'am! He'll be out in aboot- **** -minutes!*_

"How long?"

_*He'll be out in-*_ The signal completely cut off.

"Demo? Demo, do you read me? I repeat, do you read me?" ...Silence. "Is there  _anyone_ who can read me?!"

_*Madame... might I ask what zhe_ hell  _is going on?!*_ It was the BLU Spy, this time.

"You tell me, I don't have cameras outside 2Fort that are showing me anything relevant to our current situation."

_*Zhat boy... he saw me stab zhe Engineer, and he-*_

"I hope you remember you were in ceasefire, correct?"

_*Of course I know zhat! All I knew was zhat zhe boy was valuable to RED, so BLU could have use for him in zhat regard! And you know_ exactly  _how we Spies operate...*_

"...I'll let it slide this once. Do it again, with or without a valid reason, and you  _will_ be replaced."

_*...I'm razzer surprised we are having zhis discussion at zhis moment...*_

" _I_ have the time for it. Now,  _what_.  _Is_.  _Happening_?"

_*I DON'T KNOW! Zhat boy watched me stab zhe Engineer, and zhere was zhis energy exuding from him. It looked like Medic's Medi-gun, but it felt... wrong. Like it was sickening...*_

"I see... Now listen to me: gather BLU and bring them to the emergency teleporter that leads to Dustbowl. You need to leave 2Fort  _as soon as possible_ , do you understand?"

_*Oui, madame, but...*_

"No arguments! I will explain what is happening at a... later date... but you must evacuate immediately."

_*Understood.*_ The connection ceased. She sighed heavily, and put her head in her hands.

_*Administrator, what's goin' on out there?*_ She snapped to attention, and quickly called back.

"Engineer, are you out of Respawn?"

_*Yes, ma'am. Goddang Spy tried ta stab me while I was-*_

"I know what happened to you already. Now listen to me, Naruto has gone on a rampage after seeing you die in front of him."

_*...fuck.*_

"My thoughts exactly. I've ordered BLU to evacuate immediately, seeing as they were the source of the problem. I need you to inform any of your team leaving Respawn that they are to use the emergency teleporter and go to Dustbowl. In light of these recent events, however, I need you to get through to Naruto."

_*I understand. However, I'll need Spy ta git someone fer me...*_

_*I heard my name. How may I be of assistance?*_

_*Spy, head down t' tha teleporter I came out of earlier today; ya know, the one I used t'git home? I'll need ya t' use it and go find tha Hokage. Before ya leave, take the collar 'n ear attachments on ma workbench; that'll give ya the means t' communicate with 'em."_

_*Understood. And, just so I know I'm talking to the right person, what does the Hokage look like?*_

_*He'll look like the man in charge... which he is...*_

...

..

.

The teleporter ceased it's spinning, and Spy stepped off the platform lightly, only to find a knife in his face.

"Who are you?!" The old man holding said knife demanded angrily. "Why are you here?!"

" _Monsieur_ Conagher sent me," Spy replied evenly, showing not a ounce of fear. The knife slowly lowered.

"And why is it so important that he'd send someone else?" Spy's mouth twitched into the smallest grimace.

"Well... it seems as though we are having 'problems' with our new recruit..." The Hokage's face lost all color.

"Dear Kami,  _no_..."

...

..

.

"NARUTO!" Dell screamed. A head snapped into his direction, the eyes that once belonged to a young boy, seemingly burning into the RED's very soul. "PLEASE, STOP THIS!"

Naruto had transformed into something from a nightmare. Fox ears sprouted from his head, along with four tails out of his back, everything pulsing with an red glow. That wouldn't have been so bad, if his skin wasn't a red and black, pulsing pattern. _  
_

Naruto roared in fury, not recognizing Dell for some reason. Red and blue balls of some sort of energy, which Dell assumed to be chakra, started seeping out of Naruto's pores and floated away. Naruto opened his jaws wide, and the balls quickly converged in front of it, turning into one larger, purple sphere. The ball began to shrink and, randomly, Naruto's mouth opened wide and engulfed the ball completely. His cheeks suddenly puffed up, and, opening his mouth wide, fired a beam of pure energy.

**"BIJUU-DAMA!"**

"Oh... that ain't good..." Dell mumbled as sure death sailed towards him.

"UGOKU!  _(MOVE!)_ " A figure appeared out of nowhere in front of him, wielding a strange staff. The staff was spun at a high speed, comparable to helicopter blades, which managed to reflect and divert the ray into the sky above, where it exploded. When the resulting dust cloud disappeared, Dell realized his savior was none other than the Hokage.

"Anata wa nani o kangaete ita, jinoyōni Naruto o irete taizai?!  _(What were you thinking, staying put with Naruto like this?!)_ " Hiruzen yelled. Dell struggled to respond.

"Makeru... eri...  _(Lose... collar...)_ " Hiruzen 'tsk'-ed in response, and waved his hand at Dell.

"Iku!  _(Go!)_ " Dell didn't move.

"Segare!  _(My son!)_ " Hiruzen nearly wanted to just knock the man out and toss him away, but instead sighed in defeat.

"Kono soto ni taizai!  _(Stay out of this!)_ " Sarutobi ordered, before forming a hand-seal, making four, identical copies of himself appear. They quickly scattered into a large square area surrounding Hiruzen and Naruto while keeping out Dell, and formed the Snake seal before clapping their hands.

**"Shishienjin!"** Four walls of purple energy rose up, completely trapping the two combatants within. Dell remained outside, awed by the technique. He reached forward, wanting to see what it felt like.

"Te o furenaide kudasai!  _(Don't touch!)_ " One of the four clones shouted from his position. Dell raised his hands defensively, and backed away slowly.

Now, it was the Bijuu's rematch with the Hokage.

...

..

.

"Naruto... if you can hear me, please... stop what you are doing. We are here, and you are safe. No one can hurt you now." Naruto roared in response, and sent two of his tails to attack. Sarutobi expertly avoided them, and got in close with Enma in his grip.

**"Sarutobi... are you sure this is the time for soft words?"** Enma asked skeptically.

"No... I guess I'm just holding onto the hope that he can break free... It's worth a shot, rather than just outright fighting him."

**"You have a point there..."** Hiruzen appeared right in front of Naruto, Enma poised to crack the boy's skull. Naruto dodged, and swiped with his claws, nearly taking off Sarutobi's arm. The two went back and forth, lunging for an attack, then dodging or deflecting the rebuke. Naruto back-flipped away from a leg strike, ending up out of Enma's length, but the Monkey King simply expanded until Naruto was eating dirt.

"GRAB HIM!" Sarutobi yelled out. Enma quickly release his  **True** **Henge** , after shrinking himself to Naruto's location, and grappled the rampaging jinchuuriki so that the boy's chest was exposed to Hiruzen. The Hokage's fingers on his right hand lit up with a purple fire, and he rushed forward before planting them into the boy's original sealing matrix. **  
**

**"Gogyō Fūin!"** Sarutobi cried, his fingers arranged into a pentagram. Naruto stiffened, his body racking in pain, before the cloak slowly dissipated leaving an exhausted Naruto in the arms of the monkey.

"Ji...ji..." Naruto whispered, before passing out.

"NARUTO!" Dell cried from outside the barrier.

"Kai!" Sarutobi cried, releasing his four clones and the barrier at the same time. Dell immediately ran forward to take Naruto from Enma.

"Musuko... daijōbu? ( _Son... okay?)_ " Dell asked worriedly. Sarutobi nodded as Enma returned to the Summons' Dimension. "Yoi...kuru.  _(Good... come.)_ "

"Dokoikuno?  _(Where are we going?)_ " Hiruzen asked.

"...Mitsuke ru... chīmu...  _(...Find... team...)_ (1)"

...

..

.

The Administrator sighed in relief, seeing that the newcomer (who she assumed was the Hokage) was able to quell Naruto's rampage.

Of course, now that he was here, perhaps an alliance was coming sooner than expected...

...

..

.

Dell ran into his workshop, at speeds that almost lost the Hokage in the father's desperation. Dell hurried to a red button attached to the wall, and slammed it into activation. A secret door opened in the corner, revealing a small room with a teleporter. Dell turned on his comm.

"Testing... testing... RED, do you read? This is RED Engineer, I repeat, do you read?"

_*ENGIE! WHAT DA HELL HAPPENED TO YA, MAN?!*_ Scout's obnoxious voice blared into Dell's skull.

"Nice t'... hear from ya too, boy... Now, where's Medic at?"

_*Right here, Herr Engineer. Tell me, what is the status at 2Fort?*_

"Spy managed t' pull through, and bring th' Hokage over t' stop Naruto."

"You say zhat like you expected different." Dell whirled around to see Spy de-Cloaking right beside the Hokage, who hadn't even flinched. "... _intéressant_..." Spy noted.

"He's a shinobi; I'll bet he's had countless people do that t'im on a daily basis..." Dell reminded him. "Now then, Doc, Naruto's in bad shape, so be prepared ta take him."

_*Understood. I vill be avaiting your arrival.*_ Cutting the connection to Medic, Dell looked pointedly at Spy.

"Ah, yes." Spy quickly removed his interpreters, and handed them to Dell, who handed them to the Hokage.

"Haku.  _(Wear.)_ " Dell requested, to which the elder complied without argument.

"Eh-hem. Is this working?" Sarutobi asked. Dell gave him a thumbs-up.

"Workin' perfectly, sir! Now then, our team has already gone on ahead, so we're playin' catch-up. You two go on ahead with Naruto; I've got one last thing ta take care of..." Both men nodded, and, after handing Naruto to the Fire Shadow(2), they vanished in a flash of red. Dell turned to see another teleporter, glowing as it spun automatically.

"Can't leave tha Hokage without a way home..." Dell muttered as he condensed the machine.

...

..

.

"How's he doin', Doc?" Medic sighed.

"Whatever he vas doing out zhere... vas  _not good_. Zhe form he took, zhat... energy surrounding him, it put his body in a constant state of injury."

"You mean, he was dyin'?!"

"No! No, his body vas constantly being damaged by zhe energy, but it vould heal zhe injury at zhe same time. It vas in a cycle of damage and reconstruction."

",,,what's the 'bad part' 'n all of this?"

"I'm  _getting_ to zhat, Herr Engineer..." Medic replied, annoyed. "Now zhen, do you know how your body heals injuries on it's own?" Dell was stumped for a moment.

"The cells divide themselves." Both men turned to face the Hokage, shock clear on their faces. "What? We may not be as technologically advanced, but we  _do_ know basic biology!" Medic cleared his throat.

"Yes, anyvays, cells divide to heal injuries. Zhey also divide while growing up, allowing zhe body to grow vith the extra cells. However, cells do not just divide forever; zhere is a certain number of times a single cell may divide during a person's life. If a cell is forced to multiply twice in a day, instead of the usual once a day, that cell has just lost a day of it's entire lifespan."

"So, what you're saying, is that Naruto's entire lifespan..."

"-Has been shortened, yes."

"Any ideas?" Medic thought for a moment.

"Vell... he vasn't in zhat form for very long, but all zhe cells were dividing..." He walked over to a chalkboard set up in the Infirmary, and starting writing out calculations. "...seven years old...constant regrowth...about an hour...Körpermasse ist... I'd say he lost about five years of his life." Dell blinked.

"...is that all?"

"Yes, zhat is all." Dell breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whoo! With the way y'all were carryin' on, I thought he wouldn't live ta see twenty!" Medic pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"You do not understand zhe gravity of the situation, Herr Engineer!" Medic raised his voice. " _One hour_  in zhat form, and he lost  _five years of his life_! If he vas to do it again, Naruto vould probably only live to be eighty! If he did it for three hours, he'd live to seventy!  _Five hours_ , and Naruto would not pass sixty years of age! Need I continue?!" Dell swallowed.

"Naw, I... I think ya made yer point..."

"Ve must prevent Naruto from accessing zhat energy for anyting ozzer zhan zhe most  _dire_ of emergencies, and even  _zhat_ should be discouraged!" Dell frowned sadly, and looked over at the still-sleeping form of his son.

"Other th'n that, how's Naruto holdin' up?"

"He's perfectly healthy... and I  _don't GET IT!_ " Medic suddenly roared. "Nothing zhat he vent through would put zhe necessary strain on him to leave him in zhis small coma!"

"Actually, I believe I know what's wrong here..." Hiruzen interrupted. "...he has a case of Chakra Overload(3)." Dell scratched his head, while Medic looked rather confused.

"'Chakra Overload'? Is it like Chakra Exhaustion?" Hiruzen nodded.

"Slightly. Think of it as the opposite, where, instead of the body not having enough chakra, it has too much in it. Right now, with his tenketsu locked up, that chakra cloak was seen just underneath his skin, visible from the outside, but unable to escape. Honestly... I still don't understand how he was able to perform the  **Bijuu Dama** that I saved you from, Dell, but that doesn't matter. Right now, his body is filled to the brim with chakra, and there is no way for it to escape."

"So, what do we do?" Hiruzen sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I don't know... there is no record of this happening before in the history of the Nations... Hopefully, his body will slowly absorb the chakra, but that could take awhile. The only other hope is that Kyuubi will do something, but that's a slim chance..." His face seemed to age the more he stared at Naruto's prone body.

"...all we can do is wait."

...

..

.

During this interesting conversation between the three men, Naruto was having an adventure, of sorts.

He had woken up to find he was in a sewer... yes, he had experience with sewers before; let's not delve too deep into it, shall we?

Anyways, this sewer was weird, because it had this dark red tint to it, and the pipes running through it were all glowing blue.

All except one. The weird one was glowing red. It also looked to be ready to burst open, from the sheer pressure of... whatever was inside of it.

He had nothing better to do, so he decided to follow the weird pipe, to see where it would take him.

(Skipping past Naruto's lengthy and rather boring trek through the sewers)

He came to a room that was looked big enough to fit all of Konoha inside of it, and have room for another Hidden Village. At the back, however, was the most interesting part of it.

There was a set of large bars, stretching from the floor to the ceiling.

It looked like a jail.

Naruto, in all his infinite wisdom, decided to walk right up to the bars and peek inside.

"HellOOOOOOO!" Naruto called to the inside of the cage. The was a shuffling sound from deep within.

**"Foolish ningen..."** a deep baritone muttered. Naruto's hair stood up on end, and he hightailed it away from the cage.

Lucky that he did, because a clawed hand smashed the ground where he was standing previously.

"The hell was that for?!" Naruto demanded.

**"You woke me from my nap, you brat!"** the voice roared. A figure slowly walked it's way into the light, to reveal the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

"You..." Naruto breathed. The fox smirked.

**"Yes... you seem to know who I am."**

"You're the Kyuubi!"

**"What gave it away, hmmm? The fact that I'm a giant fox? Or that I have nine tails?"**  came the sarcastic reply. Naruto's eyes quickly wandered to see... yup, nine tails waving about lazily behind the monster.

"So... I guess you've been here for a while, huh?" Naruto asked, sitting down cross-legged. Kyuubi scoffed.

**"Why do you care? It's not like you'd ever release me."** Naruto frowned in anger.

"Of course I wouldn't! You would destroy my new friends!" The fox quirked an eyebrow in amusement.

**"'New friends'? Well, this is _quite_ the development, isn't it?" **Naruto didn't even seem to register the beast had spoken.

"So don't get any ideas on escaping! You're staying right here!"

**"'Escaping'? Why would I do that, when I can simply overload you with my chakra?"** Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

"What?"

**"Oh, you didn't know? Well, you were drawing quite a bit of my chakra out a few minutes ago. Whether or not you already killed your friends... that remains to be seen."**

"Y-you made me attack them?" The Kyuubi let out a snarl.

**" _I_ did nothing! You were the one who decided to steal my chakra from me! It's all  _your FAULT_!"**

"SHUT UP! I'D NEVER HURT TOU-SAN!" The fox frowned, confused.

**"'Tou-san'? But... I killed your father..."** Instantly, Naruto was on top of Kyuubi's snout, staring at him in the eyes.

"You know who my father is?" A paw came down to slap away Naruto, who flew almost to the end of the room.

**"Little pest... Even if I _did_ , why would I tell?"** A smirk grew on his face.  **"A kistune likes his secrets."** Naruto huffed, annoyed, as he picked himself up. Surprisingly, he wasn't injured at all.

"Fine. I'll just figure it out myself."

**"As much as I'd like to continue this _wonderful_ conversation... we have a problem."**

"What is it?"

**"Tell me, has anything happened to you recently that would prevent my chakra from escaping your body?"**

"Other than your jail?" A snarl.

**"Don't toy with me, ningen!"** Naruto struck a thinking pose.

"Ummm... well, someone sealed me so that I couldn't use chakra again. Is that it?" Kyuubi froze. "Um, Kyuubi?"

**"How did they seal you?"** came the quite reply. Naruto, in response, pulled off his shirt and showed his back to the fox.  **"This... this is _beyond_ despicable... I can't even fathom what soul would attempt branding a seal into a person..."**

"Well, fathom away, fox. This is what happens." Kyuubi hummed as he thought.

**"Well, this is the cause right here. Apparently, this seals up all the tenketsu in your body. My chakra isn't leaving, because it has no place to go."**

"Can you bring it all back in to you?"

**"I can try... but why bother?"** Naruto face-vaulted.

"WHAT?!"

**"It'll be more fun to see you suffer! BWAHAHAHA!"** Kyuubi roared with laughter. Naruto growled in fury.

And, of course, things took a sour turn.

Kyuubi's eyes opened slightly during his hysterics, and he immediately shut up.

**"Uh, kid?"**

" _What?_ " Naruto snarled out.

**"You have some... interesting new features."** He motioned with his claw for Naruto to turn his head. Naruto's head slowly swiveled until he was looking right behind him.

"WHAT THE-"

...

..

.

"-FUCK IS HAPPENING TO HIM?!" Dell yelled. All three men stared in shock as three, fluffy, fox tails grew out of Naruto's tail-bone.

"I-Is zhis a s-side-effect of the demon's chakra inside of him?!" Medic asked, completely bewildered by now. Hiruzen could only shake his head in wonder.

"I... I have no idea..."

...

..

.

Kyuubi went into another bout of laughter as he watched Naruto freak out over his new appendages.

Naruto, meanwhile, had declared this (officially) as the worst day of his life.

...

..

.

_(Three Days Later...)_

Naruto's eyes opened slowly to see Dell sitting on a chair next to whatever bed he was laying on.

"Tou-sa-" Naruto broke off, remembering Dell's words from that night.

Dell, meanwhile, perked up the moment he heard Naruto's voice.

"Naruto! You're awake!"

"Yeah... what happened while I was out?" Dell grimaced slightly.

"Ah, well... you have, erm..."

"Oh, yeah.  _Those_." Dell seemed surprised.

"You knew already?"

"Yeah... sprouted out of my back while I was talking with the fox. Gave me a huge-"

"You were talking with the  _Kyuubi_?!" Dell demanded. Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah.  _The Kyuubi_." Dell flinched at the venom in the child's voice.

"A-are you-"

"I just have one question for you." Dell steeled himself.

"Okay, shoot."

"Did you  _even WANT ME?!_ OR WAS THAT ANOTHER AGREEMENT IN YOUR 'ALLIANCE'?!" Dell sat there, slack-jawed, as he processed Naruto's question.

"Wh-what?"

"I heard you that night; saying how you adopted me after Jiji told you to! Did you. Even. Want me?"

"Of course I did! Ma  _entire life_ , I dreamed 'a havin' children of ma own! After ma wife died... well, I was immediately taken in by RED, so there wasn' time for me t' find someone else, or adopt a child of ma own. And then you jus'... showed up, righ' out'a th' blue. And then, I met you and you were just so kind 'n I saw all the bad things they did t'ya and I wanted t' get you away from that place... by any means necessary. When your Hokage offered me th' chance t' adopt'ya, it was like a second chance fer me. You were  _the best_ decision I made in all ma life." Naruto's eyes started watering, and he sniffled.

"I-I'm sorry, tou-san! It's just-" Dell quickly drew the boy in for a hug.

"You have nothin' t'be sorry for.  _I'm_ the one who should be sorry... I should've told you-"

"No. You... you were trying to protect me." Dell let out a small chuckle.

"'Look at us fools, tryin' t' apologize while the other won't let us." Naruto joined in on the laughter.

...

..

.

"So... you met the Kyuubi." Hiruzen stated. Naruto nodded slowly. "And... you grew three tails." Naruto pouted, but nodded again. "...did the Kyuubi explain why you grew tails?"

"Well... he said it was like getting fat." Sarutobi, Dell, and Medic face-vaulted. "More like, my body is compensating for the extra chakra. The three tails gives the extra chakra someplace to disperse to." Naruto sighed. "He also said that the tails aren't going away anytime soon; I can't release any chakra, and he's not gonna try to take it back in. If I ever drew on his power again, I'd most likely go into a coma in a best-case scenario..."

"And... in a worst-case scenario?" Hiruzen asked hesitantly.

"I'd die."

"The good news is that is no longer the case." Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

"How so?"

"The seal I used to stop you, the  **Gogyō Fūin** , will prevent you from accessing his chakra anymore. I was hoping that you would also no longer be able to contact the fox, but I guess I didn't apply enough chakra to it..." Hiruzen mused. "In any case, you're healthy and safe. That's what's important here." Naruto nodded, grinning all the while. "I believe I shall take my leave; the village won't run itself!" He chuckled at his own joke, and stepped on the nearby teleporter before vanishing in a flash of light. Naruto suddenly gasped as he remembered something _very_ important.

"WAITAMINUTE! I saw you die! Why are you still alive?!" Naruto accused, pointing a finger at Dell. Dell blinked.

"Didn't I explain Respawn to ya?" Naruto slowly shook his head 'no'. "Oh. Well, our job requires that we remain... breathing... throughout the remainder of our contract."

"Meaning...?" Dell simply pulled out a pistol and shot Medic right in the skull, who fell to the floor stone-dead. Naruto yelped in shock, and scooted away from his adoptive father.

"Vat zhe  _hell_ vas zhat for?!" Medic demanded, storming back into the room from a previously unnoticed door at the back of the lab. Naruto's eyes widened, looking back and forth between the spot where Medic's corpse was laying, and the living, breathing Medic standing right in front of him.

"We literally can't die out there." Naruto's eyes grew wide. "And soon, you won't be able to die either."

"W-what?!"

"I ain't lettin' you out there until I'm sure you're ready! That includes makin' sure you're hooked up t' tha Respawn!" Dell stated, in a 'father-voice'.

"Alright... so, when do I get to meet your team?!" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Vell, ve can start.  _Guten Tag_ , I am zhe Medic of this team, and you vill call me 'Medic'." Naruto nodded.

"Alright... nice to meet you, Mr. Medic!" Naruto smiled widely, and Medic couldn't help a small grin himself. Naruto hopped off the cot, and stretched his arms. "Tou-san, I'm gonna go explore, okay? I wanna see the base!" Dell hesitated for a moment.

"Just... don't go outside, 'kay? And if any of th' others bother you..." Here, he pulled a wrench out of nowhere and smacked his hand with it threateningly. "...you let me know, alright?" Naruto nodded happily, before dashing out of the room. Dell sighed happily as he stared at the door Naruto went through.

"Don't even think about experimentin' on him, ya hear?" Dell warned amicably.

"Trust me, I vouldn't  _dream_ of such a thing."

...

..

.

Naruto smiled to himself as he wandered the halls.

So far, he met five of the others: Heavy, Pyro, Demo, Soldier, and Sniper.

Heavy was really nice to him, and was fun to be around. He noticed Heavy was having trouble speaking the language, and asked why his tou-san didn't offer him a translator.

"Oh, Leetle Engie  _did_! Didn't fit Heavy's neck, though..." Naruto laughed at that, and Heavy couldn't help but join in.

Demo was also really nice... except he seemed to always be drunk. Naruto was talking with the man, when he just passed out right in front of the boy.

That was when he met Sniper.

"Ummm, does he do this often?" Naruto asked as the hatted man walked by. Sniper glanced down at the passed out drunk, and nodded.

"It's a cycle; he'll get up in tha morning, get drunk, 'n do it all over 'gain."

Naruto quickly introduced himself to the man after that. Sniper was okay to Naruto, just a little quieter than the others. Still, he seemed likable, so Naruto planned on getting the Sniper out of his little shell.

Pyro was next. The person was... a mystery. He had no idea if it was a guy or a girl, and they acted rather immature for their age. Of course, Naruto seemed to have found himself a new best friend, and they quickly made plans to play together sometime.

Finally, was Soldier. Naruto was quickly put into interrogation on what he liked about America, but, unfortunately, he had no idea what an 'America' was.

Then Soldier started ranting about how Naruto was a Japanese Commie (whatever the hell  _that_ meant), and threatened him to  _never_ attack his team again.

"I never wanted to attack you in the first place!" Naruto argued. "That blue guy in the mask killed my father in front of me!"

"EXCUSES!" Soldier roared back. "I'VE GOT MY EYE ON YOU, MAGGOT!" With that, the helmeted man marched off, leaving a stunned and confused Naruto behind.

So, other than that last bit, he had a good time so-

Naruto fell to the ground, after running into something that he couldn't see.

"Ah, forgive me  _enfant_." Naruto watched, amazed, as a man in a red mask appeared out of thin air.

"Wow! How did you do that?!" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Zhat would be telling, wouldn't it?" he replied amusedly. Naruto pouted.

"Fine, be that way..." He perked up suddenly, and bowed to the man. "My name is Naruto! What's yours? Or, well, your class title?" The man smirked slightly.

"I am zhe Spy. I have to admit zhat I am razzer...  _interested_ in you." Naruto looked at the man warily. _  
_

"Really?" Spy nodded.

"You come from a place zhat was off zhe map for centuries. You have zhat strange  _chakra_ inside of you. And, you are zhe jailor of a demon." Naruto shivered slightly.

"Don't remind me..."

"Where are your tails?" Naruto was shocked. Hadn't he been hiding them this entire time? How could Spy- "It's my job to know zhe little things that go on in zhis base. Don't think you won't be studied; zhe Administrator wants  _details_." Naruto frowned.

"So, you were in there the entire time? And you saw everything?" Spy chuckled.

"But of course! It's my job."

"So, why haven't you told the others?"

"Because I understand zhat you will be part of zhis team someday. I would razzer my colleagues trust you, zhan have zhem against you. Just remember: you cannot hide zhis forever."

"I know  _that_! I just don't think it would be smart for them to meet me while I've got three tails sticking out of my back!" Spy's eyes flickered to somewhere behind him, and his face grew a smirk.

"You are a very interesting child... I shall take my leave, as we have an audience." Naruto's stomach dropped. As the Spy vanished yet again, Naruto slowly turned to see the loudmouth standing behind him, shocked.

"Tails?!" Naruto sighed, and pulled up his shirt so that his tails were floating behind him.

"Yeah... side effect from what happened that night..." The runner snorted.

"What a joke... can't believe the Admin just let'cha walk right in'ta the team." He sauntered forward, swagger evident in his walk, until he was looking down at Naruto. "Let's get somethin' straight, pal: you're nothin' on this team. You're a joke. Hardhat 'n the others don't see it, but I do: you're just a useless  _runt_." Naruto remained stone-faced, keeping the man from seeing any emotion. "The name's Scout, squirt." Scout said as he walked away cockily. "And I'll make sure your trainin is  _hell_ tomorrow."

Naruto was alone in the middle of the hall.

He sniffed slightly, and rubbed his eyes free of tears. Looking around to see if anyone else was near, he was met with disappointing results.

He sighed in resignation, and walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN Time:  
> (1): Remember, Dell remembers very little of his Japanese. I'm actually surprised he knew this much...  
> (2): Literal translation  
> (3): Not sure if this is an actual thing in 'Naruto', but I thought it makes sense with Naruto's current... status


	4. Building Bonds (and Hands)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter:
> 
> Naruto realizes his father isn't an asshole like the people at the orphanage  
> Father and son compare injuries  
> Heavy bonds with Naruto over a Scout-hunt  
> Scout learns his lesson (courtesy of Dell)  
> Engineer gets a face-full of his dinner  
> Naruto clears a room with a jar of apple juice(?)

Naruto jumped about a foot in the air, and punched at the stranger at the side of his bed.

"Naruto! It's me, take it easy!" Naruto's eyes went wide, and he stared at his adoptive father in shock.

"T-tou-san?" Dell nodded slowly.

"It's me, Naruto. You're okay, you're safe." Naruto's eyes began to water, and he quickly hugged his father, sobbing out apology after apology. "Naruto... you have nothin' t' 'pologize for. I should'a knocked first..." Naruto nodded hesitantly, and sat back down on his bed with a sniffle.

"I-I just... I have trouble sleeping... They've come into my apartment once or twice, and I had to fight them off before the ANBU could rescue me. I haven't slept good for about a year, now..." Dell worked hard to keep a calm face, but his temple was starting to twitch.

"I promise, if you ever see any 'a those varmints again, you let me know and they'll regret ever steppin' foot in yer apartment." Naruto's mouth twitched into a smile.

"Don't worry... Jiji already took care of them. He explained it as, 'They obviously don't know how to treat children properly, so I removed their privilege of having any.'" Dell blinked, and he quickly covered his mouth to keep from laughing.

"Well, pardner, looks like you 'n I are going out t'day!" Dell exclaimed excitedly.

"Really? What are we doing?!" Naruto asked.

"We're gonna get you some new clothes, and some new furniture. All of us add somethin' to our rooms t' make 'em more cozy, so we're doin' tha same fer you!" Naruto's happy face slowly morphed into sadness.

"They won't sell to me. No one ever did." Dell scoffed.

"What? Y'think I'm crazy enough t' bring ya back t' Konoha?! Naw! We're going shoppin' in  _my_ country!" Naruto's face brightened back up.

"Will... will they sell to us?"

"'Course they would! Not like they'll know ya or anythin'. We're gonna have fun today, 'kay?" Naruto nodded enthusiastically, and quickly pulled on one of his (still clean and in one piece) jumpsuits. Dell looked at it for a moment, and grimaced. "Erm... do ya normally wear a target on yer back?" Naruto blinked, and quickly looked over his shoulder. "Naw, son!" Dell laughed. "That jumpsuit is screamin' 'Kill me!'" Naruto pouted.

"Orange is cool!" Naruto argued. "Don't diss the orange!" Dell raised his hands in surrender.

"I'm not gonna make ya stop wearin' it, just... wear  _less_. Can ya do that fer me?" Naruto considered his offer, and sighed.

"Alright, Tou-san..."

"Great! Now, let's get you ready for our big day, okay?"

...

..

.

Naruto fell out of the teleporter, eyes spinning as he fell on his butt. Dell, who appeared a moment later, laughed at Naruto's predicament.

"Still ain't used t' teleportin', huh?" he asked amid his chuckles. Naruto shook his head to clear it of the dizziness.

"It's weird, spinning around like that..." Naruto justified. Dell picked him up and set him on his shoulders, and looked up at him.

"Yer tails are still hidden?" Dell asked. Naruto nodded in confirmation, and Dell stepped out of the tiny room they were in. "Uh, Tou-san... where are we?" Dell grinned.

"This is what we call, a 'mall'. Imagine it as a building filled with nothing but shops." Naruto's eyes were wide as he took in his surroundings.

"What are all those glowy things on top of the doors?" Dell's smile faltered for a second.

"Well, those are signs for the store name. They're in my language... so I guess my next step is to start teaching you how to speak English." Naruto frowned.

"Ugh... teaching?" Dell chuckled for a moment.

"Not a fan of the classroom, eh?"

"Yeah... I haven't had a good time with learning..." Dell scowled for a moment.

"Well, it'll be me teaching you, so don't worry. Now then, on to furniture!" Dell cried, pointing a finger in the air adventurously. Naruto yelled in happiness, copying his father, and the two quickly made their way to their goal.

...

...

"So, these will be shipped to this address, sir?" Dell nodded.

"Yes ma'am." The sales clerk was hesitant.

"I hope you realize this is located in Kenya(1), yes?" Dell nodded again.

"Call it a... winter address."

...

...

"No, Naruto."

"Wha- Why not?!" Dell gave him a 'Are you fucking kidding me?' look.

"Orange, Naruto...  _Orange_."

"But... but the shirt's got other colors in it!"

"Right now, I want you to find a shirt with no orange in it, at all. We'll move on from there." Naruto wanted to argue back at his father, but he froze when he saw the look in his eyes. Naruto instantly put the shirt back on the rack, and looked for something else. Dell watched him, worriedly.

_'Was it something I said?'_

...

...

"Alright, we got th' clothes 'n th' furniture; all we need now is some lunch!" Naruto threw his hands in the air happily.

"Woo-hoo! What are we having?!" Dell grinned.

"I'm introducin' ya to one of th' greatest foods of the world!"

"Is it ramen?!  _PLEASE_ tell me it's ramen!" Naruto begged. Dell blinked.

"Sorry son... I'm talking 'bout burgers!" Naruto blinked.

"It'll never be as good as ramen." Dell gaped comically.

"You've never lived if ya haven't had home-cooked burgers, fresh off tha grill!"

"You've never lived if you haven't had Teuchi-san's delicious ramen." Naruto countered. Dell scoffed.

"Tell ya what: you'll try some a what I have t' give ya, 'n I'll try some of yours... later. And I want an  _honest opinion_ , 'kay? Don't compare it to ramen, just tell me what ya think." Naruto pouted, but kept silent and nodded. "Good. Let's go git some grub!"

_'He ain't arguin' anymore... what's wrong with him?"_

...

...

"So... what do you think?"

"It was good... just didn't compare to Teuchi-san's ramen."

"I told ya  _not_ t' compare, didn't I?" Naruto nodded quickly, and Dell frowned. "Naruto..." he started, grabbing the boy's attention. "...what's wrong? You're acting like you're... afraid of me." Naruto shivered.

"I have to..."

"Why? What am I doing wrong?"

"...I don't want you to take away all the nice things you gave me today." Dell gaped.

"You're afraid... that, if you make me mad, I'll take it away?" Naruto nodded hesitantly. "If I did that, I'd hope you have a strong 'nough arm t' knock some sense int'a me!" Naruto's jaw dropped. "Listen to me when I say this: If, for some reason, I believe you needed to be punished for doing somethin' bad, I would punish you 'ccording t' what ya did. If, for example, you stole a treat b'fore dinner, I might just keep dessert away from you, or somethin' like that... ya follow?" Naruto nodded. "Now, I can't think of a single thing that'd force me to take away yer furniture, or take away yer clothes. That's why y'don't have t' act so afraid of me... 'kay?" Naruto nodded happily.

"I'm sorry tou-san!"

"You don't have anythin' t' be sorry  _for_! Ya need t' stop apoligizin' so much, son!" Naruto smiled. "What?"

"Nothing... just like it when you say that..."

"What, 'stop apologizin''?" Naruto shook his head.

"'Son'."

...

..

.

Naruto stepped off the teleporter, still dizzy, but managing to stay upright. Dell hopped off a moment later, nodding at his son.

"See? You're gettin' th' hang of it already!" Naruto nodded, and they set off to his room. After putting all his clothes away, father and son sat down on the bed.

"...Naruto. There's something I want to offer you." Naruto looked at his father, intrigued.

"What is it, tou-san?" Dell pulled off the glove on his right hand, and Naruto gasped.

"This." He showed Naruto his Gunslinger, who looked at it in shock and wonder. "It's called a prosthetic limb. It acts just like a normal hand would, and it has the full range of motion. Me 'n Doc could set up a new one on yer wrist, if y' wanna?" Naruto reached for it, and gently held his father's hand.

"Is this another reason why you adopted me? Because you wanted to help?" Naruto asked. Dell smiled softly.

"In part. I also felt that I could relate to you, in a way..."

"How so?"

"You mean, outside of the fact we're both missin' a hand?" Dell and Naruto both laughed at that, before Dell sobered up. "Naw, see, when I lost ma hand... I lost ma wife 'n children at the same time..." Naruto's smile fell off his face, and he hugged his father. "Don't worry 'bout it, though. It was a long time ago, and, while I can't forget her, I moved on from 'er."

"So... what's the catch?" Naruto asked.

"Eh? Whaddya mean?"

"The metal hand can't just solve all the problems; what's the catch?" Dell sighed heavily.

"Well... obviously, it's metal, not flesh 'n blood. While we c'n hook it up t' tha nerves fer movement, you won't feel anything 'cuz it's not advanced 'nough."

"So, I can't feel pain with it?"

"No, but you can't feel  _anything_ with it. So... I guess, no feeling could be good or bad, dependin' on how ya look at it."

"What else?"

"Erm, well it glitches sometimes..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well... it's kinda embarassin', but a magnet c'n make the circuitry go all haywire, 'n stuff..."

"Really? Why not put a layer over the outside to... deflect the magnet, or something?" Dell blinked.

"Uhhh... because... because I already put it on ma wrist! Yeah... couldn' do a thing 'bout it..." Naruto stared at his father, unimpressed.

"You just never considered it before, didn't you?" Dell remained stoic-faced.

"Let's... let's just drop it, 'kay?"

...

..

.

Naruto wandered about the base. His father had taken the measurements of his remaining hand, so that his robotic one would be the same size and shape, and he was currently drawing on this weird, blue paper he called 'blueprints'. Naruto had never seen something like that before in his life, but he decided not to question it; he's already living with a man with a metal hand, who could teleport Naruto directly to Konoha within minutes if he asked.

"Heavy-san! I'm back with tou-san!" The giant's face brightened up as he turned to see Naruto running towards him.

"Ah, leetle Naruto! Is good to see you are back! What was Naruto up to with leetle Engie today?" Naruto pouted cutely.

"Stop calling us little! I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet..." he defended. Heavy chuckled.

"Everyone is leetle to Heavy!" Naruto opened his mouth to argue, then shut it with a thoughtful look.

"That... makes sense... What are you doing?" Heavy smiled.

"Taking care of Sasha." Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

"Who is 'Sasha'? I thought I met all of you already..." Heavy chortled.

" _Nyet_! Come, I will show you Sasha." Heavy lumbered off to his room, and Naruto quickly followed. Once they made it to the Russian's room, Heavy walked over to a table, which held a blanket covering a... something. Heavy walked over to the blanket, and pulled it off revealing to Naruto what was underneath.

"This... this is Sasha." Naruto stared at it. It was a... cylinder... attached to another cylinder, with a handle on the top and back.

"Ummm... what  _is_ Sasha?" Naruto asked.

" _This_... this is my weapon. She weighs 150 kilograms, and fires $200-dollar, custom-tool cartridges at 10,000 rounds per minute(2). It costs $400,000 to fire this weapon... for  _twelve seconds_." He paused suddenly, staring intently at the cylinder that was sticking out in front. "...someone touched Sasha?" He ran over to his door, narrowly avoiding Naruto, and screamed out into the hallway. "WHO TOUCHED MY GUN?!"

"Ain't me, mate.

"Haven't been in yer dang room since yer gun's handle snapped off."

"I haff been practicing  _medicine_!"

"Why would I touch your precious 'Sasha'?"

"I AM NOT GOING TO USE WEAPONS MADE BY  _COMMIES_!"

...*zzzzzz*...

"Mmmph-hmm, hmm-huh!"

...

"SCOUT! DID YOU TOUCH SASHA?!" Heavy roared.

There was no answer, except the sound of a door slamming.

"I WILL KEEL YOU, LEETLE BABY!" Heavy roared as he ran out of his room, Naruto deciding to run follow him.

"Heavy-san?"

"Yes, leetle Naruto?"

"Are you going to go beat up Scout-baka?" Naruto asked as they ran past Demo, who was sleeping on the kitchen table.

"What is 'baka'?"

"I'm calling him an idiot, really..." Heavy barked out a short laugh.

"Fits leetle Scout perfectly!" he boomed. "But yes, Scout will be feeling pain today," he growled.

"Can I come watch?" Heavy raised an eyebrow at the child as they turned a corner.

"Why do you-"

"He was being a jerk. He said... things. I don't want to repeat them, if you don't mind..." Heavy skidded to a halt, and looked Naruto in the eyes.

"Leetle Scout insult you?" Naruto nodded. Heavy 's lip curled into a snarl, and he hoisted Naruto up onto his shoulder before running back to his room.

"Where are you going, Heavy-san?" Naruto called.

"Getting Sasha! Scout deserves pain for words to you! And you are getting... what is phrase, 'front-column seat'!" He hoisted up Sasha from the table, and headed outside to hunt for Scout.

"...what was that 'bout Scout insultin' Naruto?"

...

..

.

"LEETLE SCOUT! IS TIME FOR YOUR KEELING~!" Heavy sang as he wandered about Dustbowl. His head snapped to the right, and Sasha quickly obliterated a stray fence-post. "HEAR THAT?! THAT IS SOUND OF SASHA RIPPING THROUGH YOUR BONES!"

"So... Sasha destroys things?" Naruto asked innocently.

"Of course! Sasha keels anything Heavy shoots at!" Heavy stated proudly.

"Wow! Sasha is really cool!" Naruto said excitedly.

"Sasha is... Sasha is." He quickly fired down a mine shaft, frowning when he heard no screams of pain. "Sasha does good work in keeling enemy BLU, and Heavy makes sure to take care of Sasha at night."

"What do you mean?"

"Heavy will spend two hours and seventeen minutes cleaning Sasha. Heavy will un-dent Sasha's dents. Heavy makes sure that Sasha is in perfect condition. If Heavy didn't, Sasha might not fire. That is not good on battlefield." He cupped a hand around his mouth. "COME OUT, COME OUT, LEETLE SCOUT! SASHA WANTS TO PLAY WITH SCOUT!"

"Does Sasha play with him often?" Heavy scoffed at the question.

"Leetle Naruto has no idea..."

***Attention... Scout. I heard 'bout the little 'game' you 'n Heavy're playin'.***

"Ah, leetle Engie is talking."

"Where? Where's tou-san?" Heavy tapped his ear, showing a metal... thing inside of it.

"Talking on ear-thing. Now hush, Heavy is listening."

***Well, the rules have now changed. I've taken the liberty of turnin' off Respawn.***

***YOU BASTARD! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TA ME?!*** Scout yelled frantically. Heavy started to snort with laughter.

 ***How could _you_ insult ma son?! 'N the best part is, I'm not turnin' it back on 'till I feel good 'n ready to. So, Heavy, if yer listenin', rip apart his guts with Sasha fer me, would'ya?***(3)

 ***YOU MOTHER-FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR THIS!*** Heavy had to cover his mouth with his hand, he was laughing so hard.

***Too bad y'don know how ta work Respawn, eh, _pardner_?***

"Don't worry, leetle Engie; Scout is already in... what is phrase, 'hot liquid'." Scout literally began to sob over the radio.

 ***Pleasure doin' business with ya, Heavy.*** Dell clicked off the station. Heavy's ears perked up, hearing a distant scream of fear.

"SCOUT! HEAVY, SASHA, AND LEETLE NARUTO ARE COMING FOR YOU!" Heavy roared.

"Wheee!" Naruto cheered from his position on Heavy's shoulder.

About a mile or so from the two's(three, counting Sasha) position, Scout was running for his life, cursing out Naruto, Dell, and Heavy all the while.

...

...

"Leetle Naruto, Heavy must ask question."

"Sure! What's wrong?"

"Why is leetle Naruto so okay with killing at such young age?" Naruto sighed heavily.

"You probably heard about my life back in Konoha..."

" _Da_... stupid peoples hurt leetle Naruto! For no good reason!" Heavy growled.

"Well, after a while, I just... stopped caring about whether they lived or died. I began to actually enjoy seeing them die, because they caused me pain..." Heavy nodded solemnly as they continued searching.

"Heavy understands, in a way."

"What do you mean?"

"When Heavy was leetle, almost same size as Naruto, Heavy had отец, and мать, and three сестры. However, KGB took away Heavy's отец, and shot him right in front of Heavy and family." Naruto gasped in shock. "Afterwards, KGB took Heavy and family away to... camp. They forced Heavy and family to work, or Heavy and family would die. One day, Heavy saw chance to escape; Heavy took chance, and keeled many KGB along the way. Heavy was glad KGB died for keeling отец. But Heavy still wasn't... happy. Does Naruto understand?"

"I... think so. You're saying not to seek revenge."

" _Da._ Revenge gave short happiness, but Heavy and family struggled for years after. Only when Heavy was given job offer here did family start to be happy again. Family still must hide, though. KGB still looks for Heavy for keeling KGB, and family can be target."

"I wish I had as big a family as yours..." Naruto sighed. Heavy pondered that statement.

"Leetle Engie is not enough?"

"Of course tou-san is enough! He's a good tou-san! I just wish I had siblings like you did... and a kaa-san." Heavy rubbed his chin, lost in thought for a moment.

"Heavy calls leetle Engie brother-in-arms..." he murmured to himself. "...so now, Heavy is leetle Naruto's дядя! Heavy is Uncle!" Naruto's eyes shone with happiness, and he quickly wrapped his arms around the giant's neck.

"Heavy-oji!" Heavy patted Naruto's back softly, as to not knock the boy off.

"Now, let us find Scout and keel him! дядя and племянник!" Heavy cheered, Naruto joining in as they went off on the Scout Hunt.

...

..

.

Naruto giggled madly as Heavy carried him back into the base. Dell happened to be right by the door they walked through, and he smiled wide when he saw them.

"So, did y'all have fun? I hope Scout did!" Naruto burst into another peal of laughter, with Heavy joining in.

" _DA_! Scout paid dearly for touching Sasha, and for hurting leetle nephew's feelings!" Dell blinked.

"Yep! Heavy-oji made Scout scream when he saw us! You should have seen his face!"

"Whiter than ghost!"

"Gaping like a fish!"

"Too funny!" Heavy chortled.

"'Nephew', did I hear right?" Dell asked calmly. Naruto nodded.

"Heavy-oji called you his 'brother-in-arms', so we decided he'd be Heavy-oji! 'Cuz, you know, brothers!" Dell smiled.

"Didn't know Naruto was adoptin' siblings fer me..." Heavy boomed out a laugh, and clapped the smaller man on the back.

"Leetle Engie is funny! Would like to talk more, but Sasha  _really_ needs cleaning after Scout Hunt." He waved goodbye after setting Naruto back down on the ground, patting him on the head, and carrying Sasha back to his room. Dell looked down at Naruto, who was grinning wildly.

"So... 'Heavy-oji'?" Naruto's smile fell.

"You're not mad, are you?" Dell chuckled.

"'Course not! It's just funny, seeing how you're makin' yerself a family." He clapped his hands together. "Now then! Dinner's in 'bout half an hour, so I'm gonna show you ma blueprints fer yer hand!" He led Naruto down to his workshop, where the blue sheet of paper was sitting on top of a table. "Alright, it's gonna be almost an exact replica of yer old hand, minus the fact that it's metal.  _But_... I added some things into it that I think ya might like..." He pulled out a second sheet, which showed a circular shape resting within the palm of the hand.

"What's that circle for?"

"One of the little upgrades to yers... Ma hand is a lil' more...  _violent_ , to say the least. Instead of ma own enhancements, I've made it so that a palm strike will send out an electric shock, powerful enough to stun an elephant." Naruto's eyes went wide.

"Would it kill them?" Dell chuckled.

"Maybe... that, or they'll  _wish_ it had killed 'em." Dell turned serious once more. "Unfortunately, it won't do it too often. The battery fer yer hand charges automatically, but the shock wipes out almost three-quarters of tha charge. Any more th'n that, and yer right hand's out'a commission. It won't be too long for it ta charge, 'bout thirty seconds, but you'll need ta save it fer emergencies, 'kay?" Naruto nodded excitedly, and Dell pulled out a third blueprint, which showed a hole in the index finger.

"Now  _this_ is the best part! The hole is actually the barrel of a gun in yer finger, which can shoot a tiny bullet out at a high speed. Unfortunately, you only get one bullet at a time, since there wasn't 'nough room in the circuitry fer more..."

"Ummm... tou-san?"

"What is it?"

"What...  _exactly_...is a gun?" Dell stared at the boy in shock, realizing he forgot to teach Naruto the most basic part about his future job(4).

"Well dang! I forgot y'all didn' have guns in Konoha!" Naruto was suddenly yanked by the arm out of the workshop, by his father. "I guess I'll half'ta teach ya how ta shoot, first!"

...

..

.

"Hey! That's the thing you pointed at me when I first saw you!" Naruto exclaimed, causing Dell to grimace at the memory.

"Let's not... think about that, 'kay? If I accidentally pulled tha trigger... well, I don't wanna think 'bout it... ANYWAYS!" He popped a single bullet out of the shotgun's chamber, and held it up for Naruto to inspect. "This is what's called a bullet. The best way t' describe it, is this little silver bit at tha top is a really small, really fast kunai." Naruto's eyes widened at the thought.

"And... the 'gun' is a kunai launcher?"

"Pretty much." Naruto tilted his head, confused. "The bottom part of the bullet has gunpowder locked inside it. When I pull th' trigger, the powder's sparked and, well..." He pointed the shotgun at a distant target on the range, and fired. Naruto jumped as a load bang came from the 'gun', while fire blasted out of the end facing the target. The target suddenly was riddled with holes, scattered across it randomly. "The bullets in this 'ere gun are called 'scattershot'. They spread out over'a small area, but they'll cause quite a bit 'a damage."

"Wow... so, my bullets will come out of my finger?" Dell nodded.

"The irony of it is, you'll hold yer hand in th' universal sign fer gun!" Dell sniggered at his weird settings, while Naruto just stared blankly. Dell's smile faded at Naruto's look, and he shrugged. "Eh, tough crowd. C'mon! Time fer dinner!" Naruto whooped in joy as he followed Dell inside.

...

..

.

"So, where's Scout at?" Dell calmly took a sip from his cup.

"Respawn."

"Oh... how long's 'e been 'n there?"

"I'd say about two hours so far."

"So  _far_? Ya put 'im in time-out or somethin'?"

"Exactly. Except, this sort'a time-out has excruciating pain every moment yer in there."

"And what  _exactly_ did zhe Scout do to deserve such a... punishment?" Spy asked. Dell's eyes flashed to Naruto, who was chatting happily with Heavy and Medic while they ate, for a single moment, but Spy caught it. "Ah. Remind me to never get on your bad side when it comes to zhe boy..."

"Damn straight y'all better be nice t'im!"

"Tou-san?" Dell's mood went a complete 180 from his sour attitude before.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Don't you think Scout's been punished enough?" Dell's mouth hung open slightly, somewhat confused by Naruto's question.

"But... he insulted you! And even if you weren't ma son, that's just somethin' ya don' do to a lil' kid!"

"Yeah... but, he really didn't say much... If he does it again, then you can keep him in as long as you like. For now, though, I think he's learned his lesson." The table went quiet, save for Medic who began to laugh loudly.

"Vell now! I never thought such a young  _kind_  vould think like an adult!" Naruto smiled painfully.

"Not like I had much of a choice... My childhood wasn't really appropriate for children, to say the least..." Dell sighed heavily, and got up.

"Fine. I'll be back 'n a bit." He walked out the door, heading to the Respawn chamber, then quickly stuck his head back in. "And if anyone touches ma food, they git th' same treatment as Scout." Satisfied with the threat, he left. Naruto's head slowly turned to fixate on the food-filled plate in question, and a wicked grin spread across his face.

"Someone pass me a spring, if you don't mind..."

...

...

"Don't expect me to treat 'im like a king..." Scout grumbled. Dell's grip on his shoulder tightened, which was painful considering he was using his Gunslinger hand to do so.

"I won't, but you'd best apologize fer what y'all said t'im. He's a  _child_ , fer Christ's sake! And he had a pretty bad childhood! The last thing he needs is fer your words t' hurt his self-esteem even more!" Scout sighed.

"Maybe... I was a little too harsh on tha kid..."

"A  _little_?!" Scout raised his hands defensively.

"Okay! Okay, maybe a lot! Just... give me time t' get used t' him..." Dell sighed.

"I c'n do that. 'N if, fer some reason, ya just don't like him, that's fine. I will still expect you to treat him normally,  _understood_?" Dell emphasized his words by squeezing Scout's shoulder once more, who tried to twist his way out of the (literally) iron grip.

"I GOT IT, JEEZ!" Scout yelled.

They soon approached the dining room, and Dell pushed Scout forward to face Naruto. Scout righted himself in front of the table, shuffling awkwardly at being put in the spotlight like this.

"Uh... Naruto. I just want to, erm..." he trailed off, mumbling the last few words too quietly to hear.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Naruto asked 'obliviously'.

"I'm... sorry, okay?"

"What? I can't hear you?" he rephrased, holding a hand up to his ear comically.

The rest of the mercs were struggling to keep straight faces.

"I'm SORRY, okay?!" Scout practically yelled. "There, I  _said it_. Can you just let it go?!" he directed his question to Dell, who had yet to move from the doorway. Dell sighed.

"That's all I'm gettin' out'f ya now, ain't I? He made his way to his original spot and sat down. He picked up a fork and prepared to dig back into his food, when he noticed everyone, sans Scout, staring at him expectantly. "What?"

"Oh, nothink! Just... you must be hungry, yes? You should go back to eating." Medic waved off his comment innocently.

 _Too_  innocently.

Dell's eyes narrowed slightly.

"What did y'all do while I was fetchin' Scout?" he asked suspiciously.

"Ve haff not touched your plate,  _Herr_ Engineer..." Medic assured him. Satisfied, Dell cut a piece out of his food, raised the fork to his mouth...

...and got a face full of steak and mashed potatoes.

"... _Naruto_ , on zhe ozzer hand... vell..." With that, the whole table burst into laughter at Dell, who's plate was still stuck to his face. It slowly slid down to the ground, revealing a stunned Dell with a face full of his dinner. Somehow, this made them laugh even harder, until not even Spy could keep a straight face. Dell wiped his face with his gloved hand, removing most of the mess.

"So... ya like throwin' food in people's faces, eh?" he asked sinisterly. Naruto, who had been laughing the hardest, gasped in realization.

"No... no, don't you-" *SPLAT!* Dell flung some of the food on his face at Naruto, giving the boy the same treatment. Naruto took in a calming breath, which ended up failing horribly.

"THIS MEANS  _WAR!_ " Naruto cried. He ran to the fridge where, conveniently, an extra batch of gravy was located. He quickly scooped out some of the sauce, and launched it at his father, who managed to duck out of the way.

Unfortunately, it hit Scout instead, who had managed to end up behind the Engineer. (Medic and Spy choose to leave at this point, guessing that this would only spiral out of control)

"Dude! That is  _not cool_!" Scout whined as he got covered in gravy. He grabbed a handful of mashed potatoes and lobbed them at Naruto.

Of course, this is the first time in years that Scout missed his target, and somehow ended up nailing Heavy in the face.

"LEETLE SCOUT WILL GET 'JUST DINNERS'!" Heavy yelled.

With that, the dining room/kitchen fell into an all-out food fight.

Soldier started flinging steaks.

Sniper tossed around some tomatoes (which he found in the fridge).

Scout lobbed his cans of Bonk! like grenades.

Engineer threw handfuls of mashed potatoes.

Demo flung his home-made haggis.

Pyro began tossing eggs.

Heavy pulled out a random fish, and started beating the others with it. (Except Naruto. He wouldn't be so cruel...)

Naruto kept digging through the fridge, looking for something else.

Then, he saw something  _waaayyy_ in the back that looked good.

He pulled out the jar of apple juice.

And everyone else froze.

Naruto, seeing all eyes on him, looked at them confusedly.

"What?"

"N-Naruto... put th' jar down, 'kay? Put it down, 'n no one has ta git hurt..." Naruto glanced down at the jar.

"But it's apple juice." Dell laughed nervously.

"No, no it ain't. And trust me, you  _don't_ wanna know what that really is..." Naruto grinned evilly.

"Yeah, I kinda do."

"No, no you- Put it down. Put it down! N-N-N-... SCATTER!" In a flash, every RED mercenary in the room vanished so quickly, Spy might've checked to see someone didn't steal his Cloaking device.

...

...

Naruto hummed to himself as he stored the jar of urine back in the bowels of the fridge, congratulating himself on his  _excellent_ performance.

Of  _course_  it was piss; what else could it possibly be?

 _'Either way...'_ Naruto thought to himself as he left the kitchen.  _'...I win.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Time!:
> 
> (1): Not sure if this is Dustbowl's actual location, don't really care. Just wanted a way-out-of-the-way place that'd give any clerk a moment to think about it.
> 
> (2): Not sure if this part of his speech was correct... kinda hard to understand with his accent...
> 
> (3): I know Respawn doesn't necessarily work that way... Just let it, for story's sake
> 
> (4): When it says 'Dell forgot', it's really saying 'Kage forgot to put this in somewhere earlier, so he's doing it now'.
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> For the time being, the chapters will focus on Naruto bonding with the other mercs. Training will be minimum, unless otherwise required. After that, we'll most likely have a time-skip to Naruto's first battle.
> 
> (Of course, if anything ends up popping into my mind that just has to be written out, then it will. Like the food fight. Totally random. Didn't even think about the Jarate until it was happening. I do that. I'm just gonna shut up now...)
> 
>  
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> ~Kage Musha


	5. First Time's Always the Hardest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to start Naruto's training!
> 
> Dell's made sure that each member of the team contributes in some way (save Scout), so that Naruto goes into battle as prepared as possible.
> 
> However, the team forgets that, just because they have a new addition, doesn't mean they're allowed to skip off of work. And someone makes a reappearance when Naruto's all alone...

Naruto was sleeping soundly, dreaming of ramen fountains and his face on the Hokage Mountain.

...did that just rhyme?

Meh, unimportant.

Anyways, Naruto was asleep, dreaming his sweet dreams and having-

*BR-BRAH-BUDDA-BRAH BR-BRAH-BUDDA-BRAH BR-BRAH-BUDDA-BRAH-BR-BRAAAH!*

Naruto shrieked and fell out of his bed, to see Soldier blaring through some bronze megaphone.

"ATTENTION, COMMIE-PRIVATE-MAGGOT!" Soldier yelled once he finished with the megaphone. Naruto stood up, glaring at the American as he did so.

"Is there a specific reason as to why you are my new alarm clock?!" Naruto demanded. Soldier growled slightly.

"PRIVATES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK UNLESS SPOKEN TO; AM I  _CLEAR_?!" Naruto gave the Soldier a look, and remained silent. "TODAY IS THE WORST DAY OF YOUR LIFE, MAGGOT! TODAY IS THE START OF YOUR TRAINING! YOU WILL CRY, BEG, AND SCREAM FOR MERCY, AND I WILL DENY  _EVERY, SINGLE REQUEST_!" Naruto gasped in excitement.

"It's Training Day?! Why didn't you say so?!" He bolted out of the room, too excited for his own good. "C'mon! I won't wait for you~!" Soldier blinked as he stared at Naruto's earlier location.

"...well! There's some hope for the Commie after all!" he stated with a glint in his eye.

...

..

.

"Alright Maggot! I'm starting you off with laps around the base!" Naruto nodded, a wide grin on his face. "Let's see... for today, I want five. I may not like you, but even  _I_ know you won't be used to this...  _however_ , I expect you to be able to increase that amount within a week, am I clear?!"

"Hai, Soldier-senpai!" Soldier frowned for a moment.

"What did you just call me?"

"Oh, it's a formality used in my village! I'm sort of calling you an 'upperclassman', because you've been here longer, and you're teaching me." Soldier nodded. He wasn't too sure about it, but the boy seemed to be giving him a level of respect.

"Fine. Now, GET MOVING MAGGOT!" Naruto jumped a little at the sudden increase in volume, and hurriedly began his laps around RED's base.

"Jane. How're things goin' so far?" Soldier whirled around to see Dell standing right behind him, as though he had been there all along.

"First off, I thought I told you to  _not_ use my name! Second, I've started him on doing laps. I won't give him too much to do today, since we just started, but this will be stepping stones for the kid." Dell nodded, surprised at Soldier's knowledge in training.

"Where'd ya learn all 'a this?" Soldier scoffed lightly.

"War didn't just teach me how to shoot a gun, Private..." Dell could only remain silent, not having experienced the War in Europe. They stood in silence for a few minutes, waiting until Naruto managed to circle back around to complete his first lap.

"Hi... *huff-huff* ...tou-san..." Naruto panted as he ran past. Soldier scoffed in disgust, and quickly jogged up next to the boy.

"Deplorable! If you have the breath to talk, then you have the breath to go faster!" Naruto groaned slightly. "That includes groaning!" Naruto bowed his head, focusing on running. "Keep your head up kid! You have to watch where you're going, otherwise-" Soldier broke off, as Naruto suddenly fell to the ground with a *thud!* "...yeah, that'll happen..." Naruto huffed in frustration, and picked himself up.

"C'mon! I'm not stopping just 'cuz I fell!" Naruto snapped. Soldier smirked.

"'Atta boy! We'll make a soldier out of you yet!"

...

...

"Alroight, Engie's got me teachin' ya how t' shoot." Sniper looked down at his temporary pupil, who was eager to learn from the marksman.

Seriously. Kid had a pen and paper with him to take notes.

"Has Engie already told ya 'bout how a gun actually works?" Naruto nodded.

"Yeah. The bullet has gunpowder in it, and you pull the trigger, and it sparks the powder which causes the silver part of the bullet to fly out...right?" Sniper smirked slightly.

"Pretty much. Of course, y'also understand that y'have ta  _aim_ , roight?" Naruto nodded. "Well, that's what Ah'm teachin' ya 'ere!" He led Naruto over to a table filled with different sorts of guns. "We've got a nice crop fer ya t'pick from, so choose what ya think y'can use." Naruto wandered around, eyeing the different weapons carefully. He grinned maniacally and picked up a rocket-launcher, causing Sniper to pale slightly. "Uh, kid? Soldier ain't gonna like you touchin' his weapons..." Naruto sighed heavily.

" _Fiiiine_. If I  _have_ to..." He put it back down, with Sniper breathing a sigh of relief.

"Why don'tcha take a look at somethin' smaller, or with less of a kick to it." Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"'Kick'?" Sniper nodded.

"The blast doesn't just go one way; it'll push the gun yer usin' back a bit... or a lot, dependin' on the bullets ya use." Naruto nodded again in understanding. Suddenly, a dark reflection caught his eye. He went over to the far end of the table, and picked up a single, black and silver pistol.

It was interesting in the fact that it had two barrels, one on top of the other, which meant it could fire from both at the same time, or go back-and-forth between the two. There was a small scope on top, allowing for possible long-range shots, and a laser guide as well in the event of that scenario. The most interesting feature it had was that the bottom of the barrels had a blade sticking out of it. If anyone ever got too close, a quick swipe with the gun would take care of them easily enough.

Sniper nodded in approval.

"Nice eye, kid. Double-barrel, meaning twoice as many bullets, scope fer any emergencies, and that's a fine blade it's got as well!" Naruto smiled, happy with his choice. "'Course, we ain't even checked if y'can shoot straight..." Sniper beckoned Naruto to follow, and the blonde obeyed. The two walked through the base until they came to a wide, open room.

"What is this place?" Naruto asked curiously. In response, Sniper pointed to a little area; a break in a chain-like fence, with a cinder-block in front of it.

"Stand roight there, 'n find out." Naruto complied, and he got into position and waited for something to happen. Suddenly, a cardboard cut-out of his tou-san popped up in front of him, except he was wearing a blue shirt instead of his usual red. Naruto had jumped slightly at the cut-out's quick entrance, but, as fast as it appeared, it sank into the floor, back to where it came from. Naruto turned to his temporary sensei.

"Sniper-sensei, what was that?"

"This 'ere is the Firin' Range. It'll give out targets, and all ya gotta do is shoot 'em. Easy enough, roight?" Naruto nodded, though a tad unsure. "Let's give ya a basic guide on how t' shoot: All ya have t'do, is identify your target, point, and shoot. Can ya do that?" Naruto nodded, and took a calming breath before looking back onto the target area. He hoisted his gun up, careful to not hold it by the blade, and situated it so his hand was holding it firmly. A BLU Heavy cut-out popped out of the ground, and Naruto's eyes quickly snapped to it. He pointed his pistol at the target, and squeezed the trigger.

The cut-out's head was blown clean off it's shoulders.

Naruto fell backwards onto his rump, having been knocked to the ground by the gun's kick.

Sniper couldn't help it; he barked out a laugh, which broke the dam and caused Sniper to descend into a laughing slowly picked himself up, and glared at the Australian.

"C'mon! I've never shot a gun before! You can't blame me..." Naruto pouted.

Sniper eventually calmed down, and wiped a tear of mirth from his eye.

"Alroight... c'n I see ya shoot 'gain? I noticed somethin', but I need t'make sure..." Naruto nodded, and assumed his position in the firing range. The BLU Spy jumped out of the ground, and Naruto fired within seconds.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Sniper frowned, seeing Naruto's apparent hatred for the enemy Spook, but he didn't say anything; it'd be hypocritical.

"Alroight, I think we're gonna have t'hold off on that gun for now..." Naruto whirled around.

"What?! Why?!" Sniper sighed.

"Well, y'don't have the proper strength t'hold it roight now. Y'spent a few seconds makin' sure your gun was level before y'fired, and that'll get y'killed out on tha field. On top of that, your hand was showin' signs of strain holdin' it; that'll throw off your aim a bit, which is also a no-no. I'm not even gonna mention how y' can only hold it single-handedly... but until we improve your wrist 'n grip strength, we can't have ya usin' that gun." Naruto glanced down at his gun, considering Sniper's words, and sighed in defeat.

"Fine... I'll still be learning how to shoot though, right?!" Sniper nodded, and he grabbed one of Dell's extra pistols that was being stored in the ammunition locker.

"We'll work on your aim wit' a regular pistol, until we can upgrade ya t'your original one. Now, I also noticed y'stance earlier was off a tad, so I'll work on that wit you for now. So, when y'holdin' a pistol, you'll grasp it like this with one hand. Then, shift your body... like... that, there..."

...

...

"Now, has anyone explained to you about my Medigun?" Naruto shook his head slowly, and Medic sighed. " _So wie ich es erwartet_..." Medic mumbled to himself.

"Does it heal us? That sounds like that's what it would do..." Medic smirked lightly.

"Impressive,  _kind_. Yes, zhat is vhat I do out on zhe field; I keep all of you alive. Of course, zhere is alvays zhe chance I von't be accessible out zhere... So, vhile you are vith me, I vill be teaching you First Aid." Naruto nodded, a pad of paper situated on his lap and a pen suddenly appearing in his hand. "Vell... at least you are eager to learn..." Medic deadpanned.

He started to pace while he talked.

"Out on zhe field, zhere are quite a number of injuries you and zhe ozhers may receive, which includes, but is not limited to..." He walked over to a cord hanging down and yanked it to reveal a giant chart, filled with the descriptions of different injuries and ailments(1).

Naruto dropped his pen.

"...these." Medic grinned at the sight of Naruto's panic attack over the sheer number of injuries he'd be expected to treat. "Now, zhe good news here is zhat ve haff zhe Respawn system in place. Zhat means zhat you can always 'mercy-kill' one of us in zhe event zhat you do not know, nor have zhe tools to treat us." He grabbed a marker from a random table, and tossed it to Naruto. "So, vhat I vant you to do is circle all zhe different injuries you believe you should treat, and do not circle the ones you vould 'mercy-kill' for." Naruto nodded, and walked over to the chart. He studied it for a few minutes, mumbling quietly to himself while he did so. After his careful scrutiny, he walked up to the chart, and, after making sure Medic couldn't see, wrote out something before circling it. He then calmly walked back to his seat, and waited for Medic's report.

Medic, on the other hand, was  _very_ curious as to what the  _junge_ was up to. He walked over to the chart, and bent down so he could read the single word written in marker and encircled.

_(何事)_

Medic stood up straight, and turned to face Naruto.

"Vhat does it read?"

"It says 'everything'."

"Explain your reasoning."

"Respawn shouldn't be used as an excuse to not heal someone; besides it wasting several precious minutes for the person to get back onto the field, it causes extreme pain for those inside of it. Besides, it's not about me making sure they'll be fit for battle... it's about making sure they'll last until you arrive." Medic blinked as he processed Naruto's reasoning.

"Like I said earlier, you never cease to surprise me,  _kind_."

...

...

Naruto eyed the sleeping drunk, unimpressed.

"Tou-san... what was Demo-san supposed to be doing again?" Naruto asked his father, who happened to be walking by at that exact moment. Dell paused to look at the pair, and frowned at the pitiful sight of the Scotsman.

"DEMO! WAKEY-WAKEY!" Dell yelled. Demo yelped (in a completely manly way), and started swinging around an imaginary sword.

"Demons! Nessie! Come out and fight, ye cowards!" Demo yelled, stuck in a dream. Dell expertly avoided the wild swings, and quickly smacked Demo in the head.

"If I recall right, y'said you were trainin' Naruto today, yes?" Demo, fully awake and aware, hung his head down meekly.

"U-um, yessir..."

"And yet, here I stand, having  _just_ woken you up from yer hangover!"

"U-ummm... I c'n 'splain, sir-"

"No excuses!" Dell barked. "Now, are y'trainin' him? Or should I find someone else while you 'n I have a...  _talk_?" Demo swallowed visibly.

"U-uh I think I c'n handl' it..." Dell nodded tersely, and walked off to his original task. Demo turned to face Naruto, a light scowl on his face. "Y'  _tryin'_ to git meh in Respawn, boyo?!" Naruto smirked.

"Sorry, I just wanted the training I was promised. Is that too much to ask?" Demo sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fine... fine, I'll train'ya. 'Course, I'm not gonna make it pleasant fer'ya now, understand?" Naruto frowned slightly, but nodded his consent. "Great! To the War Room!" Demo marched off, Naruto following close behind.

"What's the 'War Room'?" Demo chuckled.

"S'not really a War Room... we just meet 'ere for Solly's 'Strategy Planning' for th' day's battle. 'Course, that's what ah'm teachin' ya! Strategy!" Naruto groaned in agony. "What?! What's wrong wit' it?"

"I'm  _sick_ of learning about strategy! All day, they would teach us about different battle tactics at the Academy! It  _sucked_!" Demo scoffed.

"Look, ah'm teachin' ya all da basics, then we're goin' out and practicin' it; did they do  _that_ at y'fancy Academy?!" Naruto paused, thinking back to his school days for a moment.

"No... they didn't really..."

"Then that's th' problem! You're a doer, not a thinka, so bein' stuck in a classroom all day isn't gon' help ya. 'Course, we're gonna talk 'bout the strategies  _before_ doin' 'em, but I think y'can manage..." Naruto nodded.

"As long as I'm not being put in the hell that is a classroom!"

...

...

"So, what're you gonna teach me, Heavy-oji?" Heavy had brought Naruto into a room with a square stage that had ropes bordering it.

"Heavy will teach leetle племянник how to fight with fists!" Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

"But... wouldn't I just shoot people?" Heavy shook his head.

" _Nyet_. There may be time where BLU babies get up close to племянник. племянник won't be able to shoot, so племянник must be able to fight with fists." Naruto nodded, seeing the logic.

"So I need to learn how to punch people?"

"Yes."

"...what about my gun?"

"What gun?"

"Well, Sniper-san took me to the Weapon Room, and I picked out a gun that had a  _huge_ blade attached to it! So, wouldn't I just be able to slice them with it, if they get in close?" Heavy considered this.

"Leetle племянник  _could_... but what if племянник lost gun?" Naruto raised a finger, as if to argue, but paused as he thought over his uncle's scenario. The finger slowly fell. "Best for leetle племянник to be ready for anything, yes? That is why Heavy will teach племянник boxing!" Heavy walked out of the square, and picked up a giant cylinder that was lying on it's side. He brought it back inside the stage area before hooking it to the ceiling by the chain attached to the top. He then went over to the edge of the square, and picked up two, giant gloves before putting them on his fists.

"Heavy will show leetle племянник punches for now. племянник must get new hand before practice."

...

...

"You're teaching  _me_ stealth?" Spy quirked an eyebrow. He had requested the boy meet him in his private smoking room (to which he ordered that Naruto  _never_ come in here again without  _explicit_ permission from Spy), with the intentions of teaching Naruto stealth techniques that could come in handy throughout his career in the Gravel Wars.

"Is zhere a problem with zhat,  _enfant_?" Naruto scoffed.

"I've been able to avoid entire platoons of ANBU, jonin, and chuunin for  _hours_ , something I did on an almost daily basis!"

"...I am afraid I don't know what zhose are."

"If I was to graduate from the Academy, I'd be a genin. Then it's chuunin, then jonin, and ANBU would be the highest ranking shinobi before jiji."

"Zhen I'm afraid zhey aren't very good if zhey cannot even capture you."

"You wanna bet?!" Naruto suddenly bolted out of the room. Spy followed rather casually, walking out the door and into the hallway to find out what Naruto had been planning. He froze when he realized that, in the two seconds he dally-ed in the room, the boy had vanished from sight. He suddenly noticed a piece of paper stuck to the wall on his left, and he snatched it off so that he could read it.

_"Spy-san,_

_If you can find me before dinner tonight (which is about three hours), then...well, you can do whatever you want to me as long as it's not anything dangerous._

_HOWEVER: If you_ can't  _find me, then you have to admit, at dinner tonight in front of_ everyone _, that a seven-year-old child was able to out-stealth you._

_Happy Hunting!_

_~Naruto_

_P.S: This is written in English because I asked tou-san to write it out for me._

_P.P.S: Which means that yes, the rest of the team knows about this challenge, so I suggest you take it seriously._

Spy tore the paper to shreds with a snarl.

" _Merde..._ " he muttered. He started off down the hall, looking through various rooms intently.

If only he noticed a shadow sneak back into his smoking room...

...

...

"So, Naruto, what'd ya do today?" Dell asked as he served Naruto his dinner. Naruto grinned widely.

"Well, you saw me this morning with Soldier-senpai, right?" Dell nodded. "After that, Sniper-sensei was helping me pick out a gun and then we had target practice, then Medic-san started some First Aid training, after that Demo-yossaikuropusu (Dell choked on his food for a moment) had me study different strategies... ugh... then Heavy-oji showed me boxing moves, and finally... hey, where's Spy-san?" Naruto broke off after having realized the masked man was nowhere to be seen.

"Lickin' his wounds, no doubt 'bout it..." Dell joked.

"Well, that's the last thing I did; hide from Spy-san until about... two minutes ago!"

"ZHERE YOU ARE!" Naruto turned his head, to see Spy glaring at him.

"Oh, you found me!" Naruto stated with mock surprise.

"WHERE ZHE  _HELL_ WERE YOU?!" Spy yelled.

"I hadn't even gone two feet away from the door, and you passed right by me. Once I was sure you weren't watching, I snuck back into the room." Spy's face lost all trace of anger, and simply fell into shocked silence. "...you didn't even think to check back in your smoking room?"

The rest of the table burst into laughter at Naruto's feint, Scout and Sniper being the most enthusiastic.

"Kid faked y'out, eh ya bloody Spook?!" Sniper wheezed. Spy growled, and glared at Naruto with the utmost hate.

"As per our agreement..." Spy looked like he was in pain. "...a seven-year-old child managed to...  _out-stealth me_..." he somehow managed to get out. The table whooped and cheered for the young boy, who stood up and took a bow.

Spy decided that he was going to stab Dell in the back tomorrow.

...

..

.

Naruto jumped out of bed, yelling in shock at the sight of the red lights flashing and the sound of alarms blaring.

"TOU-SAN!" Naruto yelled. Dell rushed through the door, wearing nothing but an undershirt and boxers.

"Naruto! I am  _so sorry_! I forgot to tell you we were going to work today!" Dell exclaimed. His voice had to be louder than normal, due to the alarms going off.

"Oh... is that what's going on?!" Dell nodded. "Okay... you go get ready! I was just scared something bad was happening..." Dell nodded, and, after making  _sure_ Naruto would be fine, went to get geared up for the day's battle. Naruto, meanwhile, covered his ears with his pillow to try and block out the alarms.

After a few minutes, Dell came back in fully dressed, and the alarms had finally ceased.

 ***ATTENTION: Mission starts at 0900 hours.*** The announcement rang throughout the base.

"Wasn't that Sumirekage-sama?" Dell stared at his son.

" _'Violet Shadow'_? Is that yer new name for her?!" Naruto nodded, and Dell chuckled slightly. "Well... that's a new one..."

"Come  _on_! I spent a lot of time coming up with that!" Dell just smiled, and led Naruto to the kitchen where the other mercs were eating their breakfast... even though it was rather minuscule.

"Rations today, fellas?" Dell asked tiredly. Eight heads nodded in unison.

"So... what's the kid supposed to do?" Scout asked bluntly. Dell sighed, and rubbed the back of his head in exasperation.

"Hol'up! Got 'n idea!" Demo slurred out, before leaving the room. Everyone just stared at his exit, not sure what just happened.

He came back ten minutes later, a big smile on his face.

"Good news, boyo! Got th' Administrator to let th' tyke watch us from the big screen!"

"Why do I need to do that?" Naruto asked. Demo pouted.

"Yerr suppose t'be learnin' Strategy wit' me! What better way t'learn than t'have ya watch our real life battles?!" Dell pondered the idea.

"'Spose it makes sense... you 'kay with this, son?" Naruto nodded.

"Don't have much else to do today... except for the studying Medic-san gave me, so I'll just do my work while I watch." Dell nodded, pleased things were working out so nicely.

"Good. Now, we'll be gone 'til around 5:00 'n th' evenin'. Can I trust you t' keep the base secure until then?" Naruto saluted his father, brimming with the pride little children have when given an important task.

"You can count on me!"

...

...

"Are ya  _sure_ you'll be alright?" Dell asked, for the hundredth time. Naruto groaned in annoyance.

"For the last time,  _yes_! I will be fine, tou-san!" Dell sighed worriedly.

"I'm just worried... I dunno if any'a those BLU bastards might try t'snatch ya..." In response, Naruto pulled out his hidden pistol. Dell's eyes narrowed.

"Where did you-"

"Sniper-san gave it to me yesterday after we realized my first choice was too heavy for me to carry, but that's beside the point. My plan is this: If you don't come in here, and tell me the title of the Bijuu I hold, I'm shooting." Dell blinked, then began to chuckle.

"Thinkin' more like yer old man every day!" He gave his son one last hug, then strode out the door.

 ***Testing, testing. Do you copy? I repeat, do you copy?*** Naruto looked over to the screen, where an image of the Administrator in her chair was being shown. Naruto walked up hesitantly.

"Ummm... I copy?" A ghost of a smile graced her lips.

***I guess that'll do. How is your training coming along?***

"I've only just started, and my... injury is making it hard for me to practice the things they taught me... But I'm watching them now, so that I can copy them later!"

 ***Interesting... Well, while you're here, the Demoman asked me to keep an eye on you while you sit here. I will need to focus on my job, however, so stay quiet while you work, understood?*** Naruto nodded, and pulled out the many notes Medic had given him the day before, along with a small First Aid kit.  ***...what are you doing?*** Naruto looked up in surprise.

"Oh! Well, Medic-san told me that I'm a... a... 'kin-tes-nick'? learner."

***Kinesthetic?***

"Yeah, that! I don't learn best by reading about something, or hearing a lecture; I learn best when I'm  _doing_. So, I'm going over the notes for small injuries, and pretending they're on me so that I can perform the 'treatment'." The Administrator nodded, pleased with the news.

***Well, I suggest you enjoy the show; the battle has begun.***

...

...

Naruto hummed to himself, looking more and more like a badly wrapped mummy by the second. Helen made sure not to watch him, otherwise she'd dissolve into a giggling mess in a second, which would just ruin her image. Naruto would look up every once in a while, checking on his dad who was sitting directly beneath one of the cameras for him.

Currently, Naruto was re-reading the directions for a broken arm, confused as hell.

Was he supposed to wrap it around his neck  _before_ or  _after_  tying it underneath the forearm?

 ***I suggest you remove the wrappings from around your neck; I'd rather _not_ see you choke yourself only after your first day of training.* **Naruto grinned sheepishly up at his future employer, and quickly unwound himself.

 _ **"For once, I agree with a ningen. You'll kill yourself faster than**_ **I** _ **would..."**_ Naruto's head snapped up in shock.

"Kyuubi?!" Helen looked down at him, confused.

***Where?***

_**"Keep your trap shut! I'm still inside you, I'm just talking with you without bringing you into the mindscape. Contrary to popular belief, it's not exactly a party everyday in here!"**_ Naruto snickered quietly.

"Um, well apparently, the fox is talking to me through the seal." The Administrator raised an eyebrow.

***Well... that is rather interesting...***

"I know, right?! And now-... I'm not even gonna repeat what he just said; that's just not right." Naruto returned to teaching himself how to bandage wounds (and failing miserably), while Helen returned to watching the screens to see how the battle was-

The camera that had the only view of Dell went out.

Helen quickly tapped the keyboard, trying to get it back online. When that didn't work, she contacted the Engineer directly.

"Engineer, the camera above you just went out. Do you copy?"

***I-I do, ma'am. BLU Soldier launched a rocket at me, but it hit th' camera 'nstead.***

"...Directly?"

***Surprisingly... yes.***

"...I see. Find yourself a new camera, and quickly." She cut the connection, and looked back to Naruto...

...just in time to see the RED Engineer walk into the room.

 _'So,_ this _is his new plan. Let's see how this plays out... Naruto.'_

...

...

Naruto growled in anger as the bandages got tangled up again.

At least it wasn't wrapped around him this time.

As he struggled to unwind the wrappings (which is extremely hard to do with one hand), the door to the room suddenly opened, and in walked his father.

"Hey, son! Just checkin' in on'ya! You doin' okay?" Naruto brightened up considerably.

"Oh, yeah! Just practicing my First Aid! Are you guys still doing okay?" Naruto looked back to the screen, and saw that the camera his father was on had gone black. His face lost it's smile, and he stood up slowly.

"Heh, th' camera got blown up by th' BLU Soldier, so I thought I'd just come by-" Dell broke off, seeing that Naruto was suddenly pointing a gun at him.

"...say it." Naruto demanded.

"S-say what?" Naruto's grip on the gun tightened.

"I-I don't want to have to deal with you! Please, just go and I won't tell tou-san you tried this!" Naruto begged. The 'Engineer' smirked.

"And if I took you? How would you tell 'tou-san' zhen?"

"I wouldn't, but  _s_ _he_ would." 'Engineer' (who was obviously the BLU Spy), paled when he saw the Administrator on one of the screens, staring right at him.

" _Madame_... I did not know-"

"Just get out!" Naruto yelled. Spy stared down at the young blonde, wishing he hadn't made the decision that he didn't need his weapons to grab the boy.

"Look-"

*BANG!*

Both froze at the sound, and their eyes slowly traveled to the masked man's chest. A red dot appeared, right where his heart lay, and slowly grew bigger by the second. Spy looked back up to Naruto, to see the boy standing there, frozen in fear, with a smoking pistol in his hand.

"I-I'm sorry..." Naruto stuttered. Spy nodded, resigned to his fate.

"Well, a-anozzer time, z-zhen..." Spy choked out. He fell to the ground in a heap, and did not move again. Naruto watched the body of his father fall, then looked back at the gun in his hand.

He screamed.

...

...

***...Engineer?***

"'Scuse me a minute, ma'am... BLUs are tryin' ta kill me..."

***Engineer.***

"Just give me a moment, please!"

 *** _Dell_. _Conagher_.* ** Dell completely halted.

When did  _she_ , of all people, use the mercenaries' full names?!

"...what's wrong?"

***Tell me: when was the last time you saw the BLU Spy? Before or after that rocket destroyed the camera?***

...

...

"NARUTO!" Dell yelled as he ran into the base. He got weird looks from the others on the battlefield, both RED and BLU, but why should he care? "NARUTO! ARE YOU STILL IN HERE?!" He burst into the conference room, and nearly slipped on the puddle of blood.

 _'B-...blood?'_ A gunshot suddenly resounded throughout the room, and Dell jumped back in fear. He finally realized Naruto shot the gun to get his attention, and by then the gun was already pointing in his face.

"S-say it..." Naruto mumbled, eyes wide and terrified. He was sitting in the middle of the room, curled up into a ball and shivering, shock written all over his face.

"N-Naruto? W-what happened?" Naruto fired a bullet, which barely missed hitting Dell.

"I won't tell you again; say the damn code, or I'll shoot you again!" Naruto shouted in a panic.

"The Kyuubi no Kitsune." Naruto allowed the gun to drop from his fingers.

"Y-you came..." Naruto breathed. Dell nodded, unsure of how to react. "T-the BLU Spy... I shot him. Right in the chest. He died..." Naruto pointed to the pool of blood on the floor. "...right there. I watched as he bled to death... and I-I was the one who k-killed h-him..." Naruto fell onto his side, yet did not make a sound. He just continued to stare at nothing.

"A-...am I a monster?" Naruto asked quietly.

"W-what?"

"AM I A MONSTER?!" Naruto screamed.

"...well, do y'think ah'm a monster?" Dell asked. Naruto blinked. "I kill people fer a livin', Naruto... and so does your jiji. And everyday, I do mah best t'cope, along with all th' others. Demo drinks his Scrumpy, Scout brags about his 'achievements', Heavy cleans his gun, Sasha; we all have our different ways to forget. The only way you'd be a monster, is if y'kill fer fun or pleasure. D'ya see what ah'm sayin'?" Naruto slowly turned his head until he was staring right at his father.

"Th' guilt you feel now is how y'know you're keepin' yer humanity, because once ya enjoy the feeling of when ya kill...yer life is forfeit."

...

..

.

RED had managed to pull off a win that day, even with the absence of their Engineer during the second half of the battle.

No one knew what had made him run off like that, leaving behind all his sentries despite the BLU Spy sapping them incessantly. After he did, the rest of the day just ended up being more difficult for RED. Even though they won, their anger over their missing comrade pushed the victory aside.

"HARDHAT! Where the  _hell_ are you?!" Scout yelled the moment he stepped foot into the base.

"YOUR AWOL STUNT WILL BE DEALT WITH HARSHLY, MAGGOT!" Soldier supplied. The rest of the team stayed silent, but they weren't any less angry.

Heavy, however, had an inkling as to what might've happened while the battle raged on, and he was worried.

"Move, babies! Heavy has to see something!" Heavy shoved his way past the team, and hurried over to the conference room he last saw his little племянник in. He opened the door, and his heart dropped.

There Dell sat, by the light of the static-y conference screen behind him, holding the small, yet unmistakable, form of Heavy's племянник.

"What happen to племянник?" Heavy asked while entering the room slowly. Dell looked up, showing his eyes without goggles over them (for once), and that he was crying.

"Their Spy attempted another kidnappin'..."

"охуеть!" Heavy swore loudly, causing the little boy to twitch. Dell shushed the large Russian.

"He's not doin' good, Heavy..."

"What happen to сука of BLU?" Dell swallowed heavily.

"Naruto... h-he..." His eyes glanced away from Heavy for a moment, but that was all Heavy needed. Heavy looked in the direction Dell had, and saw a solitary pistol, laying there ever so innocently.

"племянник... shot him?" Heavy asked. Dell nodded, and the Russian sat down heavily. "...сукин сын..." Heavy cursed again, this time in shock.

"Tell me 'bout it..." Dell sighed. "He's been in shock ever since, but I might'a been able to calm him a bit..." Heavy managed a small grin.

Of course, Scout and Soldier chose that time to enter... loudly.

"HARDHAT!" Both yelled loudly and in unison. "WHERE THE  _HELL_ DID YOU-" They cut off suddenly, as giant hands suddenly covered their mouths to shut them up.

"Heavy suggest Scout and Soldier stop talking. Heavy might crush skulls... on accident, of course." The nonchalant tone, coupled with the fact that Heavy could (and will) do something like that, quickly silenced the two loudmouths. Soldier said something in a normal tone, although muffled, so Heavy uncovered his mouth. "What?"

"What's going on here?" Soldier asked calmly.

"Leetle племянник had... first kill..." Heavy admitted. Soldier's face lost all anger.

"I see..." He stood there for a few seconds, then turned and marched to the door. Before he exited, he looked back. "I... I don't expect to see you out there tomorrow, kid." With that, he left. Scout, meanwhile, ceased his struggling to free himself from Heavy's grip, and stared at the boy with a weird expression on his face. Heavy released him, knowing Scout wouldn't yell anymore, and waited to see his reaction.

He didn't do much, except turn and leave.

The rest of the team was looking in through the doorway, with mixed expressions of pity and anger. Dell watched them, too emotionally exhausted to even try to yell at them.

"...are y'all just gonna stare at us?" Dell snapped tiredly(2). Spy scowled slightly, then vanished without a trace. Medic sighed, then headed back to the Infirmary. Demo went to go get himself drunk, upset by what happened to Naruto, and Sniper gave a nod to Dell before heading off to his nest. Pyro was the only one who decided to come inside, and he shut the door behind him.

"Mmph hmm hrm-hmm?" Pyro asked. Dell blinked.

"Ummm..." Pyro sighed, and yanked at the mask. After a few seconds of struggling, he managed to pull it off to reveal a young face (several years older than Scout, but still young), with a mop of wavy, red hair, green eyes, and a sprinkling of freckles(3).

Dell blushed slightly, glad it was too dark for anyone to see his face.

"I  _asked_ , how's he doing?" Pyro repeated, a small vein on his forehead twitching.

"Oh... well, he's... doin' th' best he can, under the circumstances..."

"How so?" Dell swallowed heavily.

"Th' Spy... was disguised as me... when Naruto shot him." Pyro's eyes went wide, and Heavy had to cover his mouth to keep from cursing again.

"Oh my god..."

"So, he made his first kill, he shot his 'tou-san', 'n he spent almost a full hour thinkin' he was a monster fer killin'... he is  _not_  in a good frame 'a mind right now." Pyro sighed.

"Alright... I'll leave you two alone." He made to put his mask on, then stopped. "And don't  _either_ of you mention I took my mask off! There's a reason I keep the mask on!"

"Uh, why?" Pyro didn't answer, choosing to slip the mask back on before leaving the room. Heavy glanced at the door, before grinning apologetically at the Texan.

"Heavy will leave you two now... Heavy probably not suited to help with this..." He left the room, albeit reluctantly. Dell sighed again, and stood up carefully so as to not wake Naruto. He walked to the boy's room, and gently set him down in his bed before tucking him in. He was about to leave, when a voice stopped him.

"Tou...san?" Naruto asked sleepily.

"Yeah, it's jus' me..." Dell answered in a whisper. "Jus' puttin' ya t' bed..."

"D-don't... don't leave..." Naruto pleaded. Dell's heart soared and shattered at the same time.

"...d'ya want me t' sleep with ya tonight?" he asked. Naruto nodded, and Dell smiled. "Alright... I'll be back in a moment..." He quickly went to his own room and changed into his pajamas before heading back to Naruto. He quickly climbed into the bed, and managed to get the two into a comfortable position. Naruto hugged his father's arm like a stuffed animal, and Dell could barely contain his happiness.

"G'night, son..." Dell yawned.

"Good night... dad."(4)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1): If you want an accurate comparison to Medic's chart, just imagine the blackboards math professors will have in their lecture hall, filled to the brim with different math equations and formulas, stretching from the top (which seems impossible to get to) to the bottom.
> 
> (2): Boy... that's an oxymoron if I've ever written one!
> 
> (3): Yeah... this is my OC Pyro Riley, in case you didn't notice... He's pretty much the main character of 'Burning Up', besides Dell.
> 
> (4): I hope you realize what a big step it is for Naruto to call his father that. 'Tou' is the formality used to say 'father', and 'san' is... like saying 'Mr.' or 'Ms./Mrs.'; basically, Naruto would call Dell 'Mr. Father'. if we want to get technical. For Naruto to just refer to him as 'dad', means that he is finally starting to bond with Dell.
> 
> Also! The image used for Naruto's original pistol is this: http://the-5.deviantart.com/art/Brotherguard-152063940

**Author's Note:**

> So, every once in a while, you'll see something about a 'poll' I set up.  
> Since I just joined AO3, I'm unsure as to whether or not this site has polls... BUT LUCKILY, I already have a place for them set up! Just go here: (https://www.fanfiction.net/forum/shadow74236915-stories/156888/), and polls will be posted as needed.
> 
> I also have a Tumblr which will also have chapters from this story, but from several others I've made. This is also the place to view any fanart from a dear friend of mine. Link is here: (http://kage-musha742369.tumblr.com/).
> 
> And, finally, my dear friend I mentioned earlier has a Tumblr as well. If you like the artwork she posts (because I know I do!), the link to said Tumblr page is here: (http://oodlesofcroodlesanddoodles.tumblr.com/). 
> 
> Really, though, she only does fanart for this story (and, sometimes, other things between me and her)... So, if you want to see that, then this is the link to all her work submitted to me: (http://kage-musha742369.tumblr.com/tagged/susie%27s-work)
> 
> And, ummmm.... That's pretty much it!


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